


(Scientific) Convention / AlieNation

by Justwritingoutthedetails (notsafefortheworld)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Not a fic, and left on your doorstep to peruse., and sent to get a college degree., and then taken out back, do not copy to another site, dumped looseleaf into several totebags, expect. a lot of worldbuilding., hit with a mallet, inspired by Invader Zim, this is a bunch of worldbuilding+characterization+plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:35:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 51,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsafefortheworld/pseuds/Justwritingoutthedetails
Summary: A local human discovers an alien (and entourage) living in their town. They probably wouldn't care, except that alien just destroyed their favorite godsdamned coffee shop, and now there will be hell. to. pay.Obviously, it's their job to keep the fucking Space Spider from destroying humanity...or the world.Whichever comes first.Please note: This is conceptual information on a multimedia story rather than a completed work, but /considerable/ effort has been put into it, as a project I have been working on for several years.I will be doing my best to organize this 'fic' for readability with a minimum of stress, so if you have suggestions please let me know!Comments are strongly appreciated, even if it's just 'cool spiderdude bro'.
Relationships: 'Sunspider', I'el & TAI fam, I'el/Yosun
Kudos: 2





	(Scientific) Convention / AlieNation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stickynotes have (mostly) been organized the desktop that most fits them.  
> In the case of fitting more than one category, a pin indicating the relevant 'desks' will be on that note.  
> Every note should have an associated elaboration in the text below, though some will be more filled out than others. There's also an in-progress index of questions by desktop.  
> Unfortunately, organization is not my strongsuit, and this is the first project where I've used this system, so I'm still working out the bugs. Most of this chapter will probably be worldbuilding and plot; either find a question you like in one of the desktops and ctrl+f it (which is the system I use,) or just read through.

**Worldbuilding**

**Characterization**

**Plot, Meta, Story**

Stickynote Elaboration

Rough Symbol Key:  
* = Text that directly corresponds to a 'stickynote'.  
@ = A question within the stickynote. Not sure how to reconcile this with stickynotes within stickynotes. ('@' stacks- eg, '2@'?)  
:! = A question split off within a '@'  
;! = A question split off within a ':!'  
'#'s in a line are a complete stop. End of question, on to the next one - like a fence between neighbor's yards.  
'===' is a smaller delineation, for between '@'s.   
'-- -- --' is for delineation of questions smaller than '@'s.

########################################  
Below is a list of the stickynotes found across all desks, by category. 

Note: Some questions belong to more than one category, and will be represented there - IE, belonging to both 'Worldbuilding' and 'Plot, Meta, Story'.   
This will be shown on the sticky in question with the acronym of the other desk(s) on which they belong, within a [] to represent the pin that is present in their visual representation.  
\- [WB] = worlduilding  
\- [PMS] = Plot, Meta, Story  
\- [CZ] = Characterization

List of questions by category:

@Worldbuilding (@WB, @[WB].)  
@Plot, Meta, Story (@PMS, @[PMS].)  
@Characterization (@CZ, @[CZ].)

  
===  
@Worldbuilding (@WB, @[WB].)

\---

*Sooks don't /see/, but humans do; what are some cultural and technological differences bc of this?

  
*Current events and circumstance- background Earth info.

  
*How emblematic of their people are they?  
-(doesn't have much of anything in it.)

  
*Parallels

  
*Quantum instability - how it works

  
*Base personality traits of the Sookian species (as a whole, and individually)   
-doesn't have much under this heading, what I have might fall more under the category of how they interact with other species. Relevant, but not /exactly/ the question.

  
*Ideas for other alien races

  
*Do the Fair Folk exist in this world

  
*Relationship pieces/emotions as experienced by humans + Sooks

  
*What are some funky things the alien can do that humans can't?  
-not much there, needs an expansion.

*How does Khaa'sookian language work?  
-& make sub-questions yellow and connect to overarching.  
-*Sook body language  
  
-*Sook grammar: From and To  
-*Basis of 'alphabet' - sound? Meaning?  
-*How do they write before holograms? Erase?  
-*Written emotion, or: mood indicators (and how they work on a basis of 'From' and 'To')  
-*Khaa'Sookinian in relation to English / translated

*What are Khaa-sookian relationships like? Do they have friends? Family? Romance?

  
*What are some cultural quirks and tidbits?

  
*What are 'Sookian values? What is the overarching motivation of their society?

  
*Sooks and Focus

  
*How is the alien's society ordered?

  
*A comparison of societal mores

  
*What kind of society are the Khaa'sookians?  
How do they interact with other races (vs towards their own race)?

  
*How do Sooks interact with other species?  
-*How does a typical invasion/scouting/whatever mission go?

  
*Basic 'alien' archetype of the species?

  
*What is the Khaa'sookian planet like?  


*Sook mental health disorders+how they work

  
*Reproduction and related culture  
-*Gestation and the stages thereof &change color on stickynote

  
*Sook adaptations to their environment (as not covered by other notes)  
-*Are there sub-species of Khaa'sookians?   
-*Did they evolve as predators or prey or /what/?  
-*'Why do Sooks have blue teeth'-and other coloration questions.  
-&make this note yellow?

*Miscellaneous biology

*Sensory matrix - function, social positioning, etc.  
-falls into just, so many categories. Language, biology/ adaptations, anatomical details. 

*How do Khaa'sookian senses work? What senses do they have?  
&Make a Biology Box?? Maybe?

  
===  
@Plot, Meta, Story (@PMS, @[PMS].)

  
*How does their dynamic go, and how does it WORK? What are the factors that /keep/ it working?  
-*How do their interactions/fights go? How does Apollo keep from getting fucking /splattered/?  
-*How do they ESTABLISH their trust in each other enough for truces to work?(/do/ they, the first few times? How rocky a start is it?)  
-note: empty as of 23/Jan/2021, though there may be some information on this subject, if scattered.

*Things that changed for Yosun after Ial became part of their life, vs things that stayed the same. [PMS] [CZ]

  
*Rough storyline slash plot

  
*How does the alien disguise themself? [PMS] [CZ]

  
*Is the invader reviled? Decorated? [PMS] [CZ]

  
*What if Ial is better at socializing with humans than their own kind? [PMS] [CZ]  
An interesting idea, but not perfect for a stickynote - there isn't a lot written here, either. Perhaps it should fall under something with a header like 'I'el's social problems (and nonproblems)'

*If Ial is often disociating and Consequences Don't Exist, what keeps them from hurting their family? [PMS] [CZ] 

  
*Alien is thwarted by human awfulness and incompetence, while /technically/ fulfilling their goals

Hey an actual episode:  
(Note: These will be found in the document 'Episodes list', and not 'Stickynote elaboration'.)  
-*Spork: I'el invents their own spork after finding the original lacking. Fails bc copyright infringement.  
-*Infection: I'el tries to destroy humanity with a vile disease, which we later learn is the flu.   
-*Aerodynamic Improbability: Joke =no one knows what a blimp is, but I'el got 1. People's attention disrupts the scheme.

  
*Running gags

  
*Meta show decisions

  
*Plot stuff that needs a home

  
*Humans know they're an alien and are humoring them?

  
*What if the alien civ wasn't even planning on taking over Earth  
Not much is under this note, and this has been decided as true.

  
*How do Ial and Apollo meet? Why does Apollo decide it's their mission to stop Ial? How do they /know/ they're an alien here to conquer Earth?  
Needs note revision to reflect name change.

  
*How do they try to end human civilization

  
*If Ial is often disociating and Consequences Don't Exist, what keeps them from hurting their family?

Episode Ideas/Pieces:  
-*How do Ial and Apollo meet? Why does Apollo decide it's their mission to stop Ial? How do they /know/ they're an alien here to conquer Earth?  
-*Alien is thwarted by human awfulness and incompetence, while /technically/ fulfilling their goals

  
*/Why/ is I'el trying to conquer or destroy Earth? [PMS] [CZ]

  
Look, a plotline!  
-*Yosun and I'el infiltrate offices and act as employees there, for various reasons.

  
*How did they end up stranded on Earth/why are they really there?  
+  
*The sabotage that led to I'el's space isolation  
\+ <  
<*They're considered an 'invading force of one' in the coding  
-there isn't even an Elaboration for this one.  
<*They'rer supposed to just be the/an advance scout  
-also no Elaboration note for this one, though there is stuff on it in other notes.

  
===  
@Characterization (@CZ, @[CZ].)

#################################################################################

*Real basic setup  
Things to keep in mind:

Things I like about IZ:  
-the main characters are /unstable/.   
-anything can happen in the world. it's cartoon-logic, not necessarily real-world. i....need to work on how to /do/ that. 'm not very good at letting go of realism. Maybe making a framework of laws of reality? considering that it's more character-driven than /plot/, I think handwaving science and shit should be fine, especially if it's funny. Sometimes this'll be pointed out (presumably by the human) and the alien will either be like 'yeah, but it's funny' or mock their species' understanding of physics.   
-it'd be amusing if the less sane you are in this universe, the less you have to conform to the rules of reality. The MORE sane and stable you are, the more you /do/.  
-Ial goes through a woodchipper and comes out with a few scratches. Apollo: 'WhAT THE FUCK' *stubs their toe against something and breaks it* 

-alien probably hacks into like, everything. one week they're a government worker. the next they're at a supermarket. their harried nemesis has to try and keep up with them.   
-alien thinks they're doing the right thing-they've been brought up that way. Doesn't mean they're necessarily NICE-good doesn't equal nice, always.   
-Human protagonist shouldn't be TOO likeable-it would make things boring. Want to alternate between who you're rooting for.  
-what's the set-up? episodic sounds nice, because you don't have to have a fucking. stuck-together plot, if that happens. You can just jam shit in and be like 'this happened at some point'. And if anything conflicts, it's...idk.   
-how often is the alien thwarted by human incompetence/humans actually just being AWFUL or /stupid/. like. they're supposed to rig an election but it's already rigged.

-what is the alien's personality like? they have to be pretty incompetent at conquering the /earth/, if not at other jobs, or at least their foil has to be competent enough to stop them. but they have to be good enough at their job to be /scary/.

  
The alien has to be:  
-capable of communication, possess language  
Doesn't necessarily need to be SPOKEN language-mutism is a thing for humans, another species might not even be hearing-based - but some amount of communication is necessary for a society.  
-Strong, technological, and 'smart' enough to be a threat. Stupid or with enough weaknesses that they can be neutralized or matched.  
-At least somewhat physical, or capable of becoming physical in form, because otherwise How Do Fight. 

  
########################################  
##########################################  
*Ideas for other alien races  
-sight isn't humanlike at all, they see a completely different spectrum. (Not /more/ colors-just DIFFERENT ones.) Probably see UV n stuff like that.   
-the entire species is 'deaf', if you want to be technical-they don't hear things the way humans do, they just feel the vibrations.  
-species that lives orbiting a black hole instead of a sun  
-Blood? is blood a universal thing? what the fuck even would you do without it.  
-Is the human desperation to survive above almost all else common? It certainlt can't be ubiquitous; even among Earth species is isn't. (See: mantis allowing female to eat him so his offspring will have a better chance of survival.)  
-Are there species that are very laissez faire about like. surviving? dying is just...*shrug* to them.  
-Is hope a human thing? Going on despite the evidence that it's /pointless/? Not going to change anything? ...do other species just go 'there's NO REASON TO KEEP GOING' and then....actually stop? (Some, maybe. But I think the human way, or one similar to it, might be more common than you'd think. If nothing else than out of habit.)  
-highly social reptiles (alien species)

###########################################  
###########################################

*How do they ESTABLISH their trust in each other enough for truces to work?  
(/do/ they, the first few times? How rocky a start is it?)

################################################  
###############################################  
*Base personality traits of the Sookian species (as a whole, and individually)  
-As a species, much like humans, they were not always 'the top of the food chain'. Unlike humans who needed tools to come out on top, Sooks /do/ have inborn defenses and abilities

  
#################################################  
##################################################

*Sensory matrix - function, social positioning, etc.  
-What do Sook antennae do, like...as the default pose?  
-is there a pose that lets them hear best? (they must be able to process stimuli from in front /and/ behind them (who knows about like. down.) rather than humans who can't really do the whole 'behind' thing very well, because our ears face forward. 

I think maybe it's less, like....hm. I think. maybe. their default might be kind of a 'relaxed' look? and then they perk up/in the direction of whatever the thing they want to Sense is. (Would the 'antennae' /point/ at them, though, or would they do the 'leaf' thing-IE, maximum area to gain maximum accoustic/smell accumulation? (ooo-maybe, one of each? one set points and one does the 'interested flare'. Unless they're in like, a dangerous situation-I think 'pointing' is probably more of a /social/ behavior than a /functional/ one, so if they don't feel /safe/ in their environment, they're gonna leave the other ones still looking behind them, but not /flared/.)   
-they have bajillions of little hairs on their bodies, which possibly ALSO tell them shit. like, wind current, etc. They don't smell through them or anything tho, that'd b cray.  
-do they TURN their heads? I think they /wouldn't/, actually, because like. they don't need their ears or eyes facing that way; they can see just as well facing the literal exact opposite direction. So, they'd mostly turn their whole body (or get started/ready to) if they were gonna, not just the head. The only thing on the front of the head that isn't on the back is like, their teeth n mouth; and if /those/ are coming into play, probably they should be turning around fully /anyway/, for fighting or conversation! (though probably they'll turn their heads to talk, sometimes? if they're just making a passing remark rather than joining the conversation or smth.)

###########################################  
############################################

*What is the Khaa'sookian planet like?  
-@What is the weather/seasons like on the alien planet?  
  
===  
  
-second sentient species on Sook homeworld

-what if Sook didn't evolve pollinators. or, at least, not little itty bitty ones like bees. maybe there are big-ass ones, like. Macey-sized. are Earth-bees seen as kind of quaint and cute.  
I think maybe it's cloudy a lot of the time. When the sun does come out, it's scorching-and when it isn't out, it's cold. Khaa'sookians have to take advantage of the sunlight when they can, but during sunny days the sun is too /strong/ during diurnal hours; so they're crepescular, by necessity.   
Depending on their energy reserves, they can naturally go somewhat longer than humans without food so long as they have water.  
Idea:  
-it's nasty out when it's /not/ sunny, to the point that it's real fuckin cold and they mostly hang out underground if they can so that   
-they're used to extreme temperature swings-or at least used to /dealing/ with them.  
-the caves of the planet are heated by geothermal energy; it's where they spend a lot of time when it's too cold to be outside.  
-the best time to go hunting varies on the weather; there are usually specific people whose main job is to be on-call hunters if the weather allows. Full sunshine is obviously too hot to go out in directly; later they probably experimented with putting screens of some sort in between (maybe reflecting some of the light into the caves, or putting up latticed screens to let in some of the light but not all? I'm not sure.) them and the sun, to....varying amounts of success. They...get better at it.  
Full sunlight provides harsh, desert-like temperatures. Going out in the sun for a little while isn't going to /kill/ them (it's not fucking Alternia), but dehydration is a real problem, and going in water in the heat could fucking /steam/ them like vegetables, so.   
In the clime/area I'm thinking of, the average of usual temperatures is maybe just on the edge of freezing. When cloud-cover is particularly thick, it gets probably fairly cold. (Clouds contain ozone or some insulating material? it's an alien planet, having it just be water seems a bit boring.) 

Pre-modernity:

-they tend to go some time between hunting trips. I'm not sure if they take down an entire bug at once, or pick away somewhat n then like, run away. Eventually domestication of some sort probably happens, most likely to make smaller Bugs with more (or more nutritionally-dense) armor.  
In any case, if they have a big enough meal of nutrients, they can go a while without getting more-unlike Earth plants, which will get burns from too much fertilizer, I think they probably store excess nutrients in a specialty organ. Maybe they compress them into like, rocks. Hell, maybe they compress them into rocks when there's enough, and if they eat so much that they can't hold it all, it's regurgitated? They could just pass it (gross), but if they cough it up like a fucking hairball, 1) it would be funny, and 2) they can consume it later when they need those nutrients, or pass it to community-members who couldn't go hunting (maybe voluntary regurgitation is a thing? hm.  
I think it's fair to assume hunting members would often gorge themselves so that they would have some to bring home for the people who weren't/could be on the hunting trips. I think sharing food is probably a big thing, culturally, for them-not everyone can hunt, and the ones who can provide what they get from it.   
The ones who do other things-well. It's a community.)   
The idea of hacked-up rocks sitting in a pantry on a shelf is kind of funny, though.

The sun, when it comes out,is really strong; which is part of the reason why they don't go out during full-day. Not sure how it compares to Earth's sun strength level.

-What if the forests of Sook are primarily made up of Elder Sooks?  
-they provide a counterbalance of /plant/ gasses to all the animals running around. (Granted, the output probably isn't HIGH per Sook because they are /also plants/. So proportionately there don't have to be as many Elders (ehh heheheh. Elder trees.) to provide the alternate/plant gasses.   
-are there OTHER trees (like....actually haven't-ever-been-sentient ones) on Sook? 

  
spider that weave cotton candy web on Sook

caterpillars that produce sugar-silk or smth to attract Sooks so they can eat them?  
presumably it would look like a natural structure or smth   
giant fucking caterpillars fucking /please/  
some have paralytic venom-spines. so, you know, you can be eaten alive but unable to do anything about it. fantastic.  
are there actual spiders? probably not but maybe smth that looks similar to Sooks. they don't look quite like Earth spiders, because that would be Too Similar.

  
-It's too hot during full day on the days where the skies are clear enough for light radiation to come through, so they either come out around dawn + dusk on those days or do smth clever with like. refraction, heat sinks, etc. 

##############################################  
##############################################

*Alien is thwarted by human awfulness and incompetence, while /technically/ fulfilling their goals

###########################################################  
*Do the Fair Folk exist in this world  
what if they're just. OTHER aliens who came to live there forever ago and decided to stay. 

##############################################################  
*How did they end up stranded on Earth/why are they really there?  
Options/what they think:  
-They were sent as the advance scout for Khaa'sookian society to do research on Earth's weaknesses and the dangers it might pose while conquering the planet/civilization. (They might THINK or /say/ this, but it's probably not what actually happened. Probably.)  
-They got lost on the way to an ACTUAL planet they were supposed to be going to (for conquering or /not/) where there were a bunch of other people, and they ended up on Earth by accident. Possibly this was due to an error-computer or manual-wherein they were accidentally /assigned/ to Earth rather than the planet they were meant to go to.   
-They were sent away on purpose to Earth to be out of the way. Not what happened. /Possibly/ what they think happened. Man, that would be some angst.

  
-They got lost on the way to an ACTUAL planet they were supposed to be going to (for conquering or /not/) where there were a bunch of other people, and they ended up on Earth by accident. Possibly this was due to an error-computer or manual-wherein they were accidentally /assigned/ to Earth rather than the planet they were meant to go to. 

-they could've gotten separated from the rest + got lost somehow.   
-Being on their own ship doesn't make sense? it's not efficient. could use Cartoon Logic, but unless they were sent along later/at a different time than everyone else, /by themself/, this doesn't really make sense.   
So, /literally/ getting lost doesn't really make sense.  
-they were accidentally assigned (whether by sookish or computer error) to Earth instead of wherever they were SUPPOSED to be  
-it'd be really funny if they were supposed to be assigned to like, some safe cushy job on a Sook-controlled planet, and /this/ happened instead  
-additionally, imagine them getting a bunch of planet-conquering equipment because they're 'an invading force of one'.  
  
-What if they actually /were/ supposed to be part of the scouting party....on an entirely different planet, with like. a /team/ of people who were the advance scouts.   


-they were /intentionally/ assigned to Earth  
-by someone with a grudge. or maybe just a bored asshole who wanted to fuck with them.  
  
-What's keeping Ial from going/phoning home?  
-complicated /difficult to fabricate tech broken, destroyed, or lost that would be required to do so.  
-theoretically Ial COULD probably repair the ship and go home, but....(*shuddering*) they're not subjecting themself to that again. Not in a million lifetimes. No, they'll wait for a ship with PEOPLE to come retrieve them, thanks.  
-As for communicating - I have to imagine that they could make something to communicate within the solar system-hell, maybe within a /few/ solar systems, or even farther!-without TOO much trouble, but I think there must be some constraint on communicating over a long, looooooong distance. Part of the trick with general communication over distance is having /relays/. (For stuff that needs to be SECURE they probably do something else, but I think this is probs how it is for like. interstellar texting. assuming they have that.

-Why didn't Ial just turn the ship around and go /home/? Or message from there?  
-By the time they were woken up, it would have been farther to go back than it was to just. Keep going. And either the ship's long-range messaging equipment was broken, or it wasn't /designed/ to be THAT fucking far-range.

-Why didn't anyone come after Ial?  
I think they do, eventually, /maybe/. But either someone did it on purpose and covered their tracks, /or/. Nobody is close enough to Ial to really...know where they went? I mean, people /like/ them. They're great! But they've always been kind of, you know, /distant/. Their roommates knew they were headed off-planet, and weren't too surprised that they didn't keep in contact-disappointed, maybe, but they kind of figured they'd just chosen not to, or were real busy, and didn't pursue the matter. (At least, not for a while. Someone probably got mad around Space Candlenights, maybe someone from their family. Who at least usually get the Sook equivalent of a 'happy Candlenights'.)  
  
  
#######################################  
#######################################   
  
*What kind of society are the Khaa'sookians?  
How do they interact with other races (vs towards their own race)?  
requirements, so far as plot goes:  
-Ial has to think conquering Earth will help their society / bring them acclaim. This is unlikely in a peaceful society unless there's something /really fucking valuable/ on Earth.  
-Ial probably recieved /some/ survival / military training just because they were going off-world to take over a planet; they might be a scientist but that doesn't mean they're supposed to be /helpless/.

Possibilities:  
-they're trying to protect themselves and their allies. might not be doing it in the most MORAL way, but yeah.  
-....what if they're basically human-level of being conquerors? I mean, humans do some /shit/ things-it would be easy to slide the scale all the way across into ridicufuck levels, make it comical, but. If humans came in contact with other species we fucjing /would/ subjugate them if we were able to, probably. Not /everybody/, but some people in high places would like the idea -and be fucking /greedy/-enough that it would probably happen.  
-On the other hand, that would mean that Ial doesn't have the excuse of basically being brain-washed-/probably/. Maybe they do...? I mean, plenty of /humans/ fall prey to the whole military-industrial complex thing.  
-blue and orange morality; they don't see themselves as evil but everyone else does  
-evil conquerors with a flipside of high-handed, probably condescending?, benevolence.  
-the people they consider PEOPLE(/worthy) are treated with full rights, possibly in a nigh-on utopian society (at least from the inside), while people/races/anything outside those qualifications are just..../not/, to them. Not people.  
-could have the whole 'not caring about the individual' thing as it went on in the Irken Empire, with castes and all that, but. No. I think individuals might fall by the wayside sometimes, but it's really a case of trying to make things best for the entire species-and unlike human Republicans, I think they actually /mean/ it.   
-are they evil conquerors? good to people they consider worthy/people but the bar is weird and high and illogical?  
-they don't do pets? it's quite possible they just don't have the instincts that humans have which make such an endeavor rewarding. also culturally it's just not a thing so it's a kind of weird fucking concept when Ial runs across it on Earth.  
-given how intense they get about the shit they're paying attention to, esp like. kids+their interests/work. pets would just be an unwanted distraction.  
-maybe socializing falls prey to this sometimes? people they live/work with make up their main social interaction-not because they don't have the /time/ or /ability/ to make+get together with other friends or whatever, but because they're fucking /obsessive/.   
-Maybe there's a weird combination, right, of permissiveness-you can take time off to do shit or whatever, it's not considered a /bad/ thing, it's not stigmatized. It might be considered kind of odd for somebody to not be spending as much time as possible on their Pursuits, but they're not exactly gonna be like, /reviled/ about it. More of a gentle 'what are they doing' amusement. It's just.....people mostly /don't./  
-It's kind of a perfect storm, maybe? Automation of tasks like cooking and cleaning and all of that stuff   
-do Sooks like. get....hobbies? how hyperfocused can they be? how unhealthy is it mentally? do they /realize/? what drives them to this?  
-how unhealthy is their society?  
-highly automated society to allow for more focus on their Focuses  
Is the emotional matrix for Sooks the same as it is for humans? The /intensity/ of the emotions?  
Maybe their emotions aren't as-quickflash, as human emotions are. Maybe they come on slower and linger, shallow? hmmmn.

Big emotions for humans:  
-curiosity  
-hate, love, sadness, fear.   
  
it would be funny if Sooks didn't have a concept of hate because they just. didn't put emotional energy into things they don't like. (Maybe that's a cultural norm, fuck. Like, they /do/ dislike/hate things, sometimes, but it's seen as immature or smth to go /on/ about it the way we do, so they tend to try and work past it. Not necessarily all negative emotions-not looking for a species of stepford smilers.)   
Possibly this is a way Ial enjoys Earth's divergence from their culture.   
Hey what if shame isn't a thing for them. Because it's not really useful. Shame just. Isn't a thing. /Regret/ might be, in effect, but maybe they don't FEEL it, the way we do-that sharp, inward-curved self-reproach.  
They feel /bad/ if they hurt someone, but that's what it is-they feel bad. Empathy-focus on the other person?  
-unlike most plants, Sooks are very community-oriented. Like insects.   
they tend to be altruistic, but....not in a way humans are...?

-what if as a people, they're almost...pragmatic? they don't get sentimental attachment to objects the way humans do. a place is just a place-and when they say that, they mean it; if they have to move, and the place they move isn't as /nice/, they won't necessarily be /happy/ about it, but it won't be a big deal for them the way it would for a human.  
The inconveniences, of course, might be. But emotionally, they've already moved on from that last place-this is where they live now.  
-Do they form bonds with other people quickly? Slowly?   
I think Sooks click with each other pretty quickly-they fall into a rhythm with perfect strangers relatively easily.

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*What are 'Sookian values? What is the overarching motivation of their society?  
-They're pragmatic.  
-Maybe they don't shy away from emotions the same way Western humans do? Or, at least, not the /same/ ones.

Interaction with other species/societies:  
-they're trying to protect themselves and their allies.   
-they evolved as highly social prey animals, and to them you're -basically- either an ally, an enemy, or irrelevant. If you're an ally, they'll go to bat and possibly beyond for you. If you end up in the 'enemy' category, expect not to live long. Or prosper.  
-As a consequence of evolving with A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THINGS TRYING TO EAT THEM ALWAYS, they're kind of....'jumpy', maybe? IE, they're very /proactive/ about threats-they'd rather take care of it now than later, and that DOES involve scouting out societies to see if they're likely to be a problem or not in the future.   
fucking aggressive towards what they percieve as a potential threat.  
I think they're kind of potentially aggressive towards other societies as a form of pre-emptive protection-they evolved as prey animals, and you're-basically-either an ally, an enemy, or irrelevant.   
-They value the safety of their society (and those of their allies') highly  
-With that said-I think they're probably pretty 'measure thrice, cut once'; on a planet where one wrong move could mean death, they evolved to, yes, react quickly-but also to prefer /taking the time/ to evaluate angles and benefits and all that junk rather than just rushing in, if possible, because it could be the difference between bringing in nutrients for your community and getting a whole group of hunters wiped out by an herbivore. They might be strong compared to /humans/, but 

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*How do they try to end human civilization  
-Plagues - they do their best to decimate the human population with a vile disease.....which we later learn is the flu. Nemesis gets it and is irritated but also thinks the alien's horror that humans just LIVE like this is hilarious. 

-may or may not get fed up enough to try and blow up the Earth wholesale a few times-theoretically, they're supposed to leave the ecosystem n shit (including at least SOME humans, for the purpose of study and possibly "servitude" (slavery) for resources.)

-there's the obligate zombie episode. possibly there are SEVERAL zombie episodes because they do it different ways (a pathogen, a fungus, nanites....there are so many options. Nemesis gets /very/ tired of fighting zombies.)

Ial's plots sometimes fail on their own-and even backfire on them.  
-The time they almost got enslaved along with humanity by robots because they forgot to include the prurient code stating that /humans/ were the target, instead of all occupants of Earth. Also their Vines are Unauthorized robotic limbs n are confiscated. Quite probably had to work with nemesis. (Apollo probably saves them and it makes their [heart-equivalent] go pitter-patter)

-Ial goes to rig an election but it's already rigged. They come away from the experience baffled and confused. (a good example of their goal being technically complete but not counting as a victory state.)

  
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*Yosun and I'el infiltrate offices and act as employees there, for various reasons.  
@Misc  
-Why  
@When? /what episodes  
-Is it shown in-episode, or only in fic?  
@What happens

@Misc:

@When? /what episodes  
Where am I even putting the office parts? Are they specific episodes or just. A thing that happens throughout /other/ episodes? (....maybe I can fold them into the zombies bit? And of course other episodes+/fics....)

Maybe have them start in an office for the zombie episodes- /preliminary/ to them, of course; it might not be shown on-screen as much in the episode as it's shown in the fic. Working there is probably the /lead-up/ to the episodes, because episodes....don't tend to show the PREP for an evil plan? not in any sort of detail. It'll probably mention that they worked in the same place+why, but really fleshing it out is gonna fall to the fic, I think. 

@What happens  
Probably Yosun won't know what I'el is /doing/, at least for the first time-they just know the alien is there and wants to thwart them. There's also MAYBE some plausible deniability, because....maybe the evil alien?? just decided to get an office job?? (Probably not, but it's POSSIBLE)  
The dynamic between them presumably heats up after Yosun figures out that yes, this is definitely for an evil plan and not just...the alien being weird and /voluntarily/ getting an office job.  
-Part of the joke is that they bounce between different offices, but the personalities of the people within are rip-offs of each other because of Company-Assigned Personalities, which, much like tech companies with phone design+coding, tend to steal from each other a /lot/.   
-

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*Intersection between species personality, sanity, TAIs, + dynamic btwn MCs  
Part of what will influence the speciel and I'el's individual personalities will be what the dynamic between them and Yosun should be....but also what I'el is like after isolation.  
Maybe part of it is what Sooks would be like in nature if they got separated from their fellows. What /makes/ them incapable of sustained solitude?  
Humans need alone time, sometimes. It's an intrinsic need, even for extroverts, if I understand correctly. We just need to be able to fully relax and not worry about socializing, sometimes; to take the energy and attention we would put into it and just put it down. 

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*Humans know they're an alien and are humoring them?  
'They're trying their best' /not wanting to hurt their feelings. (Or...not caring.)  
Would be rather few people who knew, and they almost certainly would have no ability or interest in exposing the alien, for one reason or another-much to nemesis's chagrin.

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*Sooks don't /see/, but humans do; what are some cultural and technological differences bc of this?  
-Writing is either raised or impressed as a matter of course, with raised being preferred. (As far as writing by hand goes, they probably have some kind of thick ink or smth.)  
-They don't have physically static computer or.../anything/ screens the way humans do; it wouldn't be PRACTICAL, with the way they experience the world.   
-They don't have physically static computer or.../anything/ screens the way humans do; it wouldn't be PRACTICAL, with the way they experience the world.   
-Before they got to hardlight-holograms, they probably used something similar to my pin point impression computer for blind people.

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*Equipment Ial and Apollo have  
Ial:  
-Vines - those funky robot-arm-things that come from their back.  
Equipment  
Also I think maybe there are machines that can convert matter into /different/ kinds of matter-like, taking electrons/neutrons/whatever from iron to make helium. (They probably have storage tanks of each whoozy-whatsit (Proton neutron+electron) for adding to make different materials, and storage when they're /not/ needed.)  
How do they do this? IDFK, lasers or something.

-they were probably given the smallest class of ship possible for a mission - meant for six or seven people, ish.  


Nanites for antennae-covering? replicate air currents n shit while maintaining an airtight seal?

-What's the deal with the alien's labcoat? That doesn't look like proper PPE.  
Well, if it were human personal protective equipment, no. As it goes, though, /all/ of their layers are flame-retardant and chemical proof (aaaaall the chemicals. Because Advanced Alien Civilization. the exception is if it's funny.) as well as completely water-repellant.  
The colors are because Ka'reen or the base's AI took into account the human visual spectrum and redesigned them so they Ial wouldn't look absolutely ridiculous if their nemesis came in. (The colors are the only thing they altered-the rest of the fashion was....pre-existing.)  
You can judge personally whether it worked or not, but please keep in mind that Kha'sookians /don't see color/ the way humans do, so it really, /really/ could have looked like absolutely anything.

Also, don't worry about chemical spills or the like; their is fun AND functional! Underneath all the cute little accoutremonts is an All-Purpose Science Onesie -for what (kills) you!  
Flame retardant, kinetically absorbent, acid resistant, spillproof -AND machine washable.   
Plus, it breaths like a charm. (Resistant to everything except what the author thinks is funny. Restrictions may apply.)  
It might not be zap-proof, though. If only because that would be /really/ funny, since they do Inventions and probably work with electronic shit a lot so /it should be/. 

  
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*How do Ial's Vines work? What ARE they?

Ial's tenatacle arms tropes:  
Swiss army appendage, Spider limbs, possiblySwiss army weapon, Impossibly Compact Folding, Shapeshifter Baggage, Combat tentacles, Mundane utility, artificial limbs, multi-armed and dangerous

-robot arms can compress impossibly small bc....science??? they maybe just look like lil discs when they're fully compressed.  
Robot arms are actually made of nanites; they come with pre-programmed forms; you can't just 'make them whatever you want'; they're tiny little machines, not /magic/. Comes with pre-set, well, /settings/. 

-how long are the arm hoozy-whatsits?

how do i make functional mini-bits? do they just change shape into the smaller ones?  
For their Vines, what about tendrils that make up bigger tendrils - they combine into them and can unwind to be smaller for fine-motor stuff (they could be braided, I guess, or they could be like. Split into sections pizza-style and come apart at will, stay together with magnets or smth...? or,, i mean. Nanites. Nanites are always a thing.)

-Their vines those funky robot-arms that come from their back - otherwise known as 'vines'.   
-My current explanation for how they work is 'nanites, fuckboi'.  
-They might /look/ like they're surgically attached; they're not. They're programmable nanites that can be configured into different forms. Retracted, they compress into a smaller shape; either those back shapes I came up with, or maybe one bigger cohesive shape, IDK. Can't be the Irken PAK.   
(Maybe they change to look like jewelry or something when they're not in use? spiral-y cuff things or something? Heck, they could even look like part of their clothing or wheelchair or something, when they're in disguise.)  
-They can absolutely be programmed to look like other stuff. For example, if Ial had to go through airport security (and had TIME), they could make them take the shape of like, a functional metal briefcase/suitcase/whatever. Kind of /weird/, but probably not prohibited. And it's not like airport security is going to pick up on the fact that the suitcase is made of nanites; they'd look through it, be like 'yeah kind of weird that it's metal but I guess that's just a thing' and send them on their way.   
-Programming them to /look/ like other stuff still takes time, though, and depending on the functionality you expect the object to have the CODING might be pretty intensive. A suitcase doesn't have to do much more than be a solid physical object that retains its shape and has functional latches and hinges; it doesn't have any electric components, it doesn't have to /move/ on its own.   
It can probably be 3-d meshed fairly easily.   
-Programming the vines' /shapes/ is probably primarily done through a 3-d mesh program-thing. You make the physical shape of the thing, and can apply 'this code should work /here/, on /these/ bits' with special layering or smth. (I think in effect it's basically   
-I imagine all 'Sookian computer junk uses hardlight holograms so they can read the writing, and also 3-d meshes are actually, you know, /in 3-d/.   
-nerves to control them, like prosthetics. probably requires training/building up the neural pathways. Apollo tries to use them and it doesn't work, and it's funny.

  
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*Running gags  
-Apollo having weird shit on-hand that they /shouldn't/, sometimes for no discernable reason, combined with the fact that they're constantly complaining about lack of pocket space and having to pack compactly for missions.  
-Expanded: That weird shit sometimes coming in /useful/, against all odds.  
  
  
-Christians on Crusade, but not knowing what that /means/, so they do random shit like try to take over supermarkets. The tag 'Cruiseade' starts trending, about people on cruises. This is treated with contempt by Yosun. Only applicable chronologically after Robot Baby Jesus (name pending.)  
-possibly include an Easter Egg about 'CoC', having the group be confused as affiliated. Presumably, they hastily change the acronym.  
  
  
-There's no milk in the store. Don't know how, or why, but I'el has done it. Possibly something about ther cow supply chain....? presumably, so that humans couldn't feed their babies-of course, this only affects /cow/ milk in a, say, thirty mile radius, so.... (Yosun does not care. They are lactose intolerant anyway.)

  
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*Meta show decisions

-how can i have them be bastardous and do all the evil plots the way IZ did without making them a completely reprehensible character? on the other hand, i don't want to make them fucking BORING, but i'm pretty bad at writing morally-bankrupt people. do i just have to REALLY lean into the cartoonishness? (if i do that, how am i supposed to focus on the emotive shit...?)  
do they (apollo /or/ Ial) have the rabid urge to learn about the other's species the way Dib does?  
-should they be /unstable/ the way Dib is? what /drives/ them to that?   
-desperation and semi-isolation (surrounded by people and still alone, still out of step-) for Ial, maybe, but they need something to /fuck them up/.  
-maybe their society isn't /malevolent/ like human society is but they have an insane amount of pressure on them nonetheless-whether it's /all/ Sooks or Ial in particular. maybe conquering earth is supposed to be their hail fucking mary, maybe they think they got sent out on their own to /die/ because you /don't/ send people out alone (isolation is bad for humans how much worse would it be for a //hive species///) maybe they don't realize they're ALONE until they're /on earth/ and maybe they can't even CONTACT their people when they get there (could build something maybemaybemaybe but can they bring themself to do it because at least right now there's plausible deniability, the possibility that it was a mistake-)  
-Ial not being human+also literally trying to destroy the world means p much any force seems justifiable against them, probably. idk about in relation to the rest of humanity/their general assholeishness.  
-most of their fighting-well. either Apollo finds a way to compensate for Ial's greater size+strength+/speed/, they can't exactly wrestle n shit.   
-/could/ they make up for that with some kind of tech junk? maybe they make braces n stuff for their arms and legs to make them stronger...? still leaves human constitution (cracked skulls aren't fun) and the fact that they have their Vines. Maybe apollo finds a way to disable the vines?  
-Zim and Dib are fucking emotionally constipated. which is a /fantastic/ way of keeping characters from just talking things out.  
-See the 'dynamic' one for more info specific to I'el and Yosun.

-what was Ial's upbringing like? did they have a close sibling, ever? (Did they die? move away? enter a different program or move off-world or...just grow apart? maybe they never HAD a closest sibling the way is common in Sook society)

consider negative continuity and whether I want to use it (and if so, to what degree)  
the difference between plot and story  
bang out a rough concept of both for Alienation

  
-how far do I want it to go? Mortalities? Maiming? should death be implied or on-screen? how can they justify killing? how can they justifiably be a good person? (Maybe they don't /have/ to be.)  
  
How to make writing feel cartoon-y? how to do that /tone/?  
maybe I should do short writes of the same scene, in different tones.

So, the least bastardous way I could play this would probably end up being/feeling pretty...goofy.   
It would also seriously limit /what/ I can write. I mean, take the zombie episodes for an example: even assuming i pull a by-grace-of-the-gods every time and no one gets /killed/ (or, taking it further, maimed,) psychological damage is still nothing to shake a stick at.  
On the other hand. I don't want it to be serious-as-fuck, always-a-horror, either. Some options for balancing the tone might be writing from an apparent outside perspective (saying it's the computer, for example)-or having certain scenes have certain moods.   
-It could be real funny for Apollo to be mission impossible: horror movie edition'ing it up around the lab or whatever, and then it switches to Ial's point of view as they eat a fucking salad.   
I think tone whiplash is going to be my friend. 

Does it /need/ to be bastardous to be scary? Miscommunications and misunderstandings, different /perspectives/, happen. Having a knife at your throat is scary even if you've never been /stabbed/. I guess the worry is kind of fear erosion. What excuse does Ial have to not outright murder Apollo when they catch them, and vice verca? Why wouldn't they go all out and just try to /murder/ each other?  
How far do I want Ial to go?  
What would the repercussions of having them be truly bastardous be?  
-Theoretically, they might be less sympathetic, depending no how they're written. They might also be /boring/ if they're written fucking /soft/.   
What is Ial willing to do? 

Mood whiplash of cartoony to grim/serious to cartoony again (and also mixing cartoony-serious)

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*Did they evolve as predators or prey or /what/?

'Or what'.   
-Their natural predators are herbivores. They counter-evolved to look kind of like bugs to spook them/trick them into thinking they're NOT plants. (Probably /mostly/ successful? Probably doesn't translate too well to Earth, though. Heh.)  
-Their natural /prey/ are the predators on their planet-very large bugs which have armor that has a high density of nutrients. They rip off/dissolve pieces of this armor (they have acidic venom, to help) and eat it. Yum, nutrient soup.  
They're autotrophs for the most part - they take in the light from their star and turn it into....sugar? Stored energy of some sort.

  
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*Basic starting-point establishing questions about the Khaa'sookians  
-Can they shapeshift? No. Other alien races might be able to, though.  
-How long do they live? Probably longer than humans? I have no idea.   
-What are their weaknesses? Real bad weather, dehydration, weedkiller.... Also they tend to be pretty one-track-minded.  
-What do they eat? The armor of giant-ass bugs native to their planet, and light from their sun.  
[-Humans are pursuit predators; it could be interesting to see a different type of natural predator. There's also the fact that herbivores can be outright /terrifying/, though. Hell-they're alien; maybe the general animal categories for food don't apply to them. Maybe they eat radiation/light, or specific chemicals, or, hell. Maybe they break atomic bonds and eat the reaction energy. That could be neat. (Probably save that for a different species, doesn't feel like the right Vibe for this one and could cause story complications.)]  
How /regularly/ do they 'eat'? Constantly? Three times a day, one? Maybe they're like snakes and can go long periods without.  
Fuck, they're aliens. I could pull and Adventure Time and have them eat the color pink.  
What's their natural environment? Hell, what's their /planet/ like? Is it Earth-like? A gas giant?   
Are they terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal? Subterranean?

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*How do Khaa'sookian senses work? What senses do they have?

@ Spaghetti

@ Spaghetti  
Some funky ideas:  
-Seeing air currents? (they don't have eyes, though, so it wouldn't be /seeing/ seeing.)

Some less funky possibilities:  
-Sooks have very good spatial awareness. They might not be able to look around them with a glance quite the way humans can, but they instinctively have a very good /memory/ of their surroundings. A Sook who's travelled somewhere on foot will is almost unstoppable in their navigational ability; their sense of direction is finely honed through years of practice, and massive environmental change is more likely to irritate them if it causes need for an alternate route than on its own merit- they /know/ where they're going.   
This gets more complicated with, say, space travel. Sooks did not evolve to parse such distances, but they have admirably adapted. (A common way to keep track of where they've been is to walk an exponentially downsized version of their path through space; using projections with stars and planets anywhere from pea- to basketball-sized is a well-practiced method of memorizing star charts. In this way, they are never lost in the larger sense: they know exactly where they are, and how to find their way home.  
Unfortunately, it is not always so simple.)  
-Possibly some sort of echolocation-without-the-shrieking thing going on....? (I wonder if they click. ....Would be funny if their speech incorporated see-showing clicks as a matter of course. Might get annoying, though? Unsure. On the other hand, would provide a very comprehensive picture, with a lot of people talking. Unless it muddled signals, I guess. )

and always, always, we want more - and who could say  
if the burning is salvation or damnation, these days,  
when to want is the same as to have?  
when to want is unattainable?  
When the act of wanting, itself, is weighed  
as though the action itself had been taken a hundred times  
as though intent meant nothing  
as though we are nothing more than our actions and thoughts,  
no blurry-bright lines in between ('but i /meant/-')  
and how they do not tangle together  
except in the most unflattering light.  
We are damned, before we can speak.)

Antennae possibilities  
-Hearing (catch vibrations and send them down to be interpreted, or interpret them there)  
-Smelling  
-Touch   
-'seeing' the world around them through vibrations? air currents?  
-Taste

Not-antennae  
presumably they feel shit on their skin, and elsewhere, similar to the human sense of touch?  
some way of actually seeing? but eyes are boring. these are /aliens/, let's get smth neat here.  
-some fucking neat ideas, which I did or didn't come up with:  
-Seeing through their skin. (With light/darkness)  
-specialized zones that aren't /eyes/ the way we'd call them, but can see certain wavelengths. they might just look like markings+/semi-bumps?. they're not squishy like human eyes tho.  
-some sort of 'disembodied' sense of sight.  
-interpreting electrical signals into light/vision  
  
-They can get around in complete darkness or overwhelming bright because of their antennae.  
-Antennae aren't responsible for their sense of balance. They have a different organ(s) for that-possibly the same organ that detects barometric pressure. I'm thinkin smth like a little orb   
-They're really sensitive to vibrations overall; do they get overwhelmed by intense ones? I imagine Earth is an overwhelming, irritating place, if that's the case. (Maybe encasing their antennae in a thick coating of Mystery Spray or winding their antennae into a wig? would be a method of dealing with that. )  
-Might fuck with their sense of smell/taste, though (particularly the wig.)  
-For going out they'd probably leave strategic parts of their antennae uncovered-like the larger tips so they can smell/taste, if need be?

-they have a sense of the weather; are-if not /sensitive/ to-very AWARE of barometric pressure. allows them to know when to make their way to the surface/somewhere with light in anticipation of sunlight.

Do I want them to be deaf or blind? Both seems like a lot.  
-Deaf:  
Cons:  
means they can't have a /spoken/ language, which sounds complicated as fuck to write.  
Pros:  
-Not too many antennae things? I guess?  
  
-Blind  
Cons:  
Pros:   
-Would probably make more sense if they don't always have access to light, living in caves or smth. On the other hand-  
  
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*Sook adaptations to their environment (as not covered by other notes)  
  
Alien is sort of a plant-bug-thing. do they do Bug Things like make honey or tunnel? Do they have sap or fruit like plants?   
-Yes to the fruit, in certain situations. And sort of yes to the sap-their blood is similar.../also/ in certain circumstances.  
  
What temperature range is comfortable for Sooks? They must be more durable than Earth plants, one presumes; but there has to be a limit.  
-They start to get slow and tired when it's too cold. They can go into a state of dormancy when this happens  
-they have a sense of the weather; are-if not /sensitive/ to-very AWARE of barometric pressure. allows them to know when to make their way to the surface/somewhere with light in anticipation of sunlight.  
-Hard inside of mouth/esophagus? for if they have to swallow shards of armor, bc it might have sharp edges. Hmmmm.  
/Or/ they could have Lick It Up tongues and just get the soup. Could give them acidic saliva, but that might make kissing kind of awkward. (Alternatively-their saliva might specifically just dissolve the carapace of those bugs, not like. All-purpose acid. The way peanut butter melts gum.)  
-probably has a proboscis/big ol tongue or smth for slurping up that good good nutrients soup when it's been melted by their //fucking acid venom//  
-Plant Looks Like Bug - misdirection aimed at their natural predator-herbivores.  
-Climbing buds complete with razor-sharp spikes (with Flat Mode for not shredding everything they touch)  
-Probably an energy-conservation mode or smth when they reach low energy/there's real bad weather coming?   
-Big old ripping teeth - for fighting and also tearing chunks off their food. Also contains acidic venom.  
-no nose - makes biting easier. maaaaaybe a muzzle? or smth? who the fuck knows.  
-mandibles?? please?? they can wave around and be /so cute//  
-spraying acid as a defense measure? they have it in their fangs, why not somewhere else?  
-How homogenous is their species?  
Do they come in different colors (skin, teeth, etc?) Different /patterns?/   
Antennae-shape? Size, stockiness, /pointiness/?  
Are there varying limb configurations? Possibly by mutation - extra arms or the like? Plants bud, right. But idk how common it would be or how much of a nuisance it would present.  
-Their 'hands' are called 'blooms', usually. (They can also be called 'buds', but that has potential to get confusing, when you take genebuds into account, so the other is probably more common.)   
-My current prototype is roughly so:   
-Multi-directional - can open to be used for fine-motor control and other tasks, or closed and using one side for, say, sticking to stuff. (Closed should have some other purpose presumably, but I'm not sure /what/ yet.)   
-presumably /any/ side can become the 'down' side, esp as Sook's branches rotate so it would make the most sense for this to be the case. That does make bones+sharp things /inside/ the whole structure a little complicated, though. I could get rid of the idea of bones/necessarily hard structures in the blooms, but I'm leery of doing that for multiple reasons. It seems like a slippery slope, for one thing.  
-I COULD do that thing that even some Earth species do-they could just have a lot of SMALL bones/support structures in their blooms, which would probably make more sense for the sake of flexibility anyway; problem is that this brings in the issue of potential fragility...? Hm. I want them to be /durable/, and considering that I see them slamming their blooms against Mammoth-class bugs they're hunting, they NEED to be able to withstand significant force. (What if they have...a /bracing/ mechanism? They can 'lock' their bloom into a certain position somehow and it makes it more sturdy/durable. Like, additional sliding bones or something...? Hmmmm.)  
  
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*Are there sub-species of Khaa'sookians?  
It would be real neat to have, like. Aquatic, maybe fungus (subterannean?), etc versions of them.  
-Maybe there are 'amazonian' ones-who evolved in the areas where it was a lot warmer/more temperate +there was more plant-life. Abundant light, warmth, and food, but also a proportionate number of herbivores to worry about. Would be interesting if it was one of the more deadly places on the planet for them.  
-I don't know how much /non-frozen/ water there is on their planet-it would probably be around the warmer zones. Possibly that's where the aquatic ones would be, if there are any? Hm.  
-Fungus-like ones take advantage of the relatively stable temperature of the caves deep underground, far beyond where sunlight reaches. As a result of this, they're unable to produce their own food-they rely on the 

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*How is the alien's society ordered?  
Who's in charge?  
They have to be at least somewhat communicative, or they wouldn't be able to coordinate. They're not free-for-all anarchists or this story wouldn't be a /thing/.  
-They are individuals, or capable of being so; it's not Absolutely A Hivemind (though under the right conditions it /could/ be, I guess)  
-They probably don't have something like the Control Brains hanging around and brainwashing them; their follies are their own.  
-They might have a council.   
-do they have born-in leaders? is it a caste thing? is it...elected? Maybe people take aptitude/personality tests and the info is filtered through the computers and according to pre-determined criteria, candidates are selected for the general populace's decision. (Anyone can throw their hat into the ring, but there are different categories depending on the traits n junk of the individuals. Individual traits are ranked, and an individual's overall aptitude for the position is as well.  
Gradings are as followed, best to worst: 'recommended', 'approved', 'unapproved', 'disapproved', and 'banned' people.   
-'Banned' is pretty obvious-they're ineligible, for whatever reason(s).   
-'Disapproved' is 'I /really/ wouldn't advise it, but they're not bad enough to outright bar.'  
-Unapproved is basically the shrug of the electoral system.  
-Approved = they'd probably be a fairly okay candidate! They're very unlikely to make things /worse/, and will probably be fairly competent and well-suited to their jobs.  
-'Recommended' is the cream of the crop-the ones to watch out for. Most people don't even bother continuing the process unless they're approved or above, and if you reach 'recommended' level, you're almost a shoe-in.

-there have to be truth-keeping measures. otherwise people could just fucking lie on their tests.

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*Anatomical details

Compound eyes are cool but maybe too bug-ish.   
brilliant coloration like damsel or dragonflies could be hella fucking neat

What does the alien look like  
Scary. Big/tall and Sharp Bits (teeth/claws?) and streamlined. I'm thinking like, four arms or lots of appendages of some kind would be cool. /Not/ tentacles. (Maybe four arms+extra technological appendages, like Hal?)  
/Looks/ like something you would have a nightmare about.  
Has four arms, each with a budlike structure at the end which opens-four sepals(?) to each bud. 

-teeth can grow back if they get knocked out or something. It's not terribly a big deal. They probably shed in an alternating pattern so that they don't get old and useless or all at once so that you just...don't have teeth. that'd be less than ideal.   
-the fangs that contain venom are a little trickier. They mostly shed the outer layers and leave the inner....stuff, I think. Maybe once every seven years they shed the whole kaboodle-that venom tubing included-and just are full-on missing a venom-fang for a bit while it grows back. (They PROBABLY don't do all the venom-fangs at once, for /obvious practicality reasons./) I'm unsure whether I think everyone would go through it at the same time so they just...don't hunt for a month or wtvr and stock up beforehand, or if people do it at varying times so it's like. not affecting everyone at once? I think it would make more sense for everyone at around the same time, because then they know to prepare for it and can stock up on what they need. Maybe it goes in like, thirds of the population at a time. Or, hell, it could be hormonal+what sex you are changes /when/ they fall out, as like a natural staggering.   
  
-Can they have an exoskeleton, or are they limited like spiders? If they don't rely on oxygen primarily they /may/ be able to.   
-maybe Sooks have an internal bio-reactor that turns certain gasses into the ones they need, or whatever? which is how they have more versatility?  
-false eyes??? what if they have false eyes, to look more like bugs  
-do they have pedipalps? they're kind of the cutest thing ever...

  
-Sook bones are light blue.  
-do Sooks have crops, like birds? It would make the whole 'regurgitating for someone else' thing make sense. (Ooo, maybe they send it down to the crop instead of down to their stomach? hmmm.)  
-bees, some birds, and varying invertebrates possess crops.   
-Bees use them to temporarily store flower nectar; when they suck it up, that's where it goes. I think it would make sense for Sooks to do it like bees do-they suck up the nutrient soup, bring it back+regurgitate, and then eat whatever they need, (assuming they don't digest/absorb some of it while it's in the crop?)  
  
-Do I want the crop to be able to pass food on to the stomach, or should it be its own separate thing? I half-feel like, hm...  
-I don't think the 'crop' is.../exactly/ like an Earth creature's. %It's purpose is to extract and compress nutrients from the sludge. Some of the stuff in the 'nutrient soup' isn't gonna be stuff they need, after all! I think stuff that isn't useful gets filtered out somehow and then passed through to be excreted. Or....spit up in a separate ball, maybe. Depending on how far it has to go to be filtered/whatever.%   
-Other things Sooks have to digest are fruit. They're very efficient, I...almost think they just. Wouldn't poop much? on the other hand, regurgitating waste, depending on what it /is/, could be real gross! Hm.  
-Digestively, they need at least one organ to take the stuff they /don't/ need out. Then they need something to process the stuff they DO need. and a way to absorb/utilize it.   
-I think the crop is /really/ just, hold onto this stuff and make it into little edible chunks, then you hurk it up and store it/eat what you need now but it goes down the other tube, where it actually gets digested and filtered and such. The reason Nutritionists are so important is that they provide /filtered/ nutrients (and calories) to the youngins, rather than just a raw ball of materials.   
-There's a little switch where stuff can go into the crop instead of the stomach. Voluntarily controlled, of course.   
-The stomach is actually farther down in at least some Sooks, to accomodate for like. Genebud processing and the like.   
%Their body is automatically like ‘hey that’s too much nutrients’ and condenses it for later eats% or, rather:They swallow specifically into their crop rather than their stomach (there’s a lil switch farther down  
-do they have in and output for their hearts like humans do? the oxygenated versus the deoxygenated. Presumably they do.  
-Sooks don't have a curvy back like humans. that's just bad design.  
-where should their brain be? do they HAVE one centralized brain, or? (I think it woudl be neat-and maybe make more /sense/-if they had more than one, kind of. esp control for the limbs n junk. Maybe one major brain that sends signals to the rest-like, how octopi have brains in each tentacle.  
-Parts of the brain  
-muscle control (fine, gross, ?)  
-language  
-decision-making   
-memory  
-threat-detection/recognition, and response (IE-arboreal herbivore? get out from under the fucking tree)

-How similar are Sooks' brains to the human brain? Do they have the same...parts? IE-one part controls decision making, one controls muscle movement, etc...  
-They don't have a singular parietal lobe-they might kind of have one in their head that processes tactile junk from their antennae, but I think maybe they'd have another one elsewhere in the body for the rest of it?  
-They don't HAVE an occipital (visual) lobe; they don't have /eyes/.  
-language and memory centers presumably closeby each other? would be neat if language was more generalized to the 'social interaction' category rather than being its own thing  
  
  
-what if muscle is denser in Sook's legs than elsewhere, so they don't need as much room? ....eh.  
-Front of the heart is one and the back has a separate tube that's the other, I guess. Except instead of 'oxygenated' and 'deoxygenated', it's 'processed' and 'needs to be processed'.   
-Sooks have multiple, /smaller/ hearts, instead of one big one.   
-the colloquialism of 'having your heart in your throat' is almost literal for Sooks.  
-instead of a lub-dub, the row of hearts pulses one after the other, in a line from top to bottom.   
-humans have a huge abdominal gap where there just...aren't bones. Sooks have more structure-and their bones are wider, but also hinged with cartilage (or their equivalent) to be supes flexible.  
-What if instead of a spinal /chord/, Sooks had smth like. brain wifi.   
-how do they keep 'signals' from getting mistaken by another person's body? - brain sends out certain signals that are encrypted and the specific hoozywhatsits have the decryption codes or whatever. (Are signals electronic? Chemical?)  
-there are probably 'relay stations' all over that bounce the signals around. Once a signal is /recieved/, though, it's absorbed and not sent on.  
-reproductive organs would probably have to be in the thorax (upper body part) rather than the abdomen (lower body part,) because pollen or fruit or what-have-you needs to GET to where they have to be.  
-lapping mouthparts for Sooks. like a bee!!! (European honeybee may be a good example.)  
-Possibly make silk? (Oak silk moths make silk from their /mouths/, so THAT'S a thing. Maybe they have spinnerets in there, seeing as their BRAINS aren't in there?)  
-are there /plants/ that make silk-like stuff? also what would Sooks use it for?  
-catching prey if it's sticky  
-weaving to carry stuff?  
-shelter against the elements (hardens under some circumstances/different types?)  
-they also have wings that gotta fold away /somewhere/ an not be in the way of genebuds and the Carrier's brooding pouch/slit. (Maybe the slit is /under/ the wings-an extra measure of armor between the babies and the world.)  
-Possibly double or triple 'wings'  
-They're capable of rotating, to better catch the radiation.  
-When not in use, they curl up/furl (as leaves do, sometimes) into basically leaf nubs. They're pretty thin, if tough, so they don't take up a lot of space when they're folded or whatever.   
-Possibly they can unfurl their wings real fast to confuse/startle predators, too.  
Don't have:  
-belly buttons  
-or outer ears  
-fingers, toes  
-breasts, nipples  
-significant sexual dimorphism. possibly Carriers are larger? but it's not big numerous differences.  
-false(?) stingers  
-possibly some amount of 'hair', made of either plant or bug stuff.  
-no eyes  
-super-organ antennae  
-varied reproductive organs  
-possibly varied sexual organs?

-babies' legtips aren't sharp like adults. because /ow/. they probably start getting sharp when they're teenagers or so (bc you still /pick up/ kids.) They might be tapered at the tips, but they aren't /sharp./

-they breathe through their skin (plants) and /also/ through kind of...holes..? in their sides (basically spiracles, I guess.) They can voluntarily close or open their spiracles, and they're as airtight as the rest of their skin when closed-IE, grit and junk aren't gonna get in there.   
-They have multiple 'lids' for the spiracles, though. There's the 'batten down the hatches' one, and then the thinner one they /usually/ have down unless they're like, GULPING down air; it's mainly to keep particulates out. It's thin enough that, to keep from being /super/ fragile, it's very elastic. (It /is/ vulnerable to stab/cutting, though. I'm thinking it's similar in feeling to a human eyelid. It could be clearish/semi see-through, though, because that would be real neat!)  
-Can they hold their breath, though? Esp with their leaves, dangerous vapors and junk might be /especially/ dangerous to Sooks, if they really can't just /pause breathing/, as such... Hm. On the other hand, I did put that they can do internal gas exchange for a while in breathing-hostile environments, so I think /hopefully/ they can.  
-They do might waste gas through their leaves sometimes though. On the bright side, wingliness means they could kind flap and disperse it pretty quickly, I guess. (Or they could just dispense waste gasses through their spiracles, which might make a lot more sense...? IDK. Maybe it depends on the /type/ of it-digestive waste gas tends to leave through the leaves because they're just, closer. They have stomata on the top and bottom because it just wouldn't make sense in this case for them to be on only one side. They probably automatically stay closed if there's pressure against them, so you don't just.....vent gas into closed spaces, like between leaves and fur. That would be less than ideal.)  
  
-What if their fur changes color depending on their diet? Like how some plants fed on blood change color?  
-Their leaves change color based on the temperature - the colder the darker, the hotter the lighter. They also tend to furl them up more depending on how cold it is, which provides an amusing contrast to humans, because it /looks/ like they're wearing less clothing when it's cold out (when in fact, they're just defending the thinner fibres of their leaves. Of course, theoretically they could maybe like, partially-inflate them with blood to keep them warmer, but I don't think the blood /flows/ as fast in their leaves in the rest of their bodies, so it probably wouldn't work great.

-Sooks have book lungs like spiders. Kiiiind of. (/My/ version of a book lung, anyway.) They /sort of/ have two pairs? Probably main in their lower body segment (cephalothorax), and then a smaller pair in their upper body (abdomen). 

-Sook foot-tips - the idea was that they were sharp to dig in so they don't fall, but that doesn't make the MOST sense, evolutionarily.  
Reasons for:  
-It's a story and I can do what I want to  
-looks cool  
-alien!   
-way more intimidating in appearance  
-this way it doesn't lean TOO heavily on what actual Earth spiders look like  
-if I did the sticky hairs on the feet they would probably stick to the ground, which isn't ideal.

Against:  
-Possibly v close to IZ-style PAK legs tghe way I have them drawn (esp the bends?)  
-If the goal is to stick on to stuff, wouldn't it make more sense to do the lil hair things? (unsure. would they also just....stick to the /ground/, then? because that's not ideal.)  
-might not actually be the MOST practical way to stay balanced.  
-if they had bigger feets they could feel vibrations through the ground. (Then again....maybe they /do/. Maybe they just don't need all that surface area, bc hey! they're auxilary. 's what the matrix is for.)

  
-I think their ribs can slide under each other or smth for when they're bending over  
Rib cage, but it's more. flexible? (Maybe it's in /segments/, and the segments can slide over each other or smth. Hmmm.

-maybe lungs work by taking stuff in and pushing it through and then out on one side or smth? 

-Spiracles have two lids, both of which are open/closeable. One is thick and basically 'batten down the hatches' (hard to breathe through), the other is /usually/ closed and is a lot thinner. It's to keep out grit and stuff that shouldn't go into lungs. Those stay closed unless a Sook is /gulping/ for air, which is probably a Not Good. I think that one is kind like an eyelid-it's stretchy, so if it gets poked it doesn't just /break/. Because /ow/? Also: Spiracle lids are semi-transparent, because who doesn't want to be able to see up an alien's 'nose'? ajrfoijfao 

-spiracles  
-depth of organs  
-which organs to put in (and where-ish)  
-body overall from different angles (gotta know dimensions/depth I'm working with)  
-depth organ  
-reproductive organs - how similar are they in the differing sexes? are they in the same place?  
-Nutritionist and Materialist have specialized digestion organ in the head-takes stuff and makes it into the special compound to go into fruit. Compound passes through bloodstream to reach antennae+spots where it will become fruit.   
-crop  
-where the relays are, where the Movement Brains are.   
-brains are encased in bone (lil skulls), with a hole (or possibly several?)   
-fuck it a lot of their bone is actually semi-flexible (to a degree.) Way fucking sturdier than cartilage, but has a bit of give, unlike true bone.  
-Their lungs don't exactly /expand/ and /contract/ like ours do. The insides of them move around so they sort of.....pulse? and twist? But the air is going /out/ at the same time it's going /in/, so their lungs don't exactly EXPAND. 

-They poop pellets like rabbits. No diarrhea like humans.  
-hey what are we doing about the fur. That's kind of HARD to HIDE if anyone sees it. (Do they just say it's a glandular condition or smth ajefowaeijfioj)

  
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*The sabotage that led to I'el's space isolation

about the sabotage that led to I'el being alone in space  
-fuck, maybe Earth wasn’t even the intended destination. maybe they were just supposed to drift through space for the rest of their life.   
-(were they even supposed to wake up from cryosleep?)   
-What was the intended goal? Was their misery more important, or their death?   
The person/people who sent them out were obviously somewhat careless, because all of this happened to I’el instead of the person it was presumably intended for.   
-What mistakes did the person who set all this up make?  
-They left too much to chance; for instance, they might have put some fail-safes in place, but I’el /didn’t/ die, in the end.  
-Probably shitty coding. (Whether this is because the saboteur is bad at coding, or that it needed to look like a malfunction rather than intentional faults, who knows. Maybe it was both. Hell, maybe it was someone from another species who just didn’t understand the systems well enough, or smth.)  
-I’el was the one caught in the trap, and presumably they were /not/ the intended target.  
-Who was the saboteur/why did they do this?  
Lover scorned? They probably weren’t a Sook, because this would be a HELL of a thing for one of them to do. More likely to be someone from another species (Whether enemy, ally, or indifferent) who doesn’t understand the depth of torture this would be to a Sook. (Maybe it was a shitty assassin…..) (What if they were hired by a Sook and told to kill their target in a way that didn’t look like a murder, but left the rest of the details up to them (and was horrified and very irritated to find that they’d a) gotten the wrong person and b) committed a horrific act that a lot of people would see as considerably worse than murder).

Maybe the ship was supposed to kill/let them die (have a ‘malfunction’ in the life support after like eight months or smth)  
-and of course there were contingencies- the planned cryopod failure was one of them. Others include: turning off the systems that keep the ship from being hit by space-objects like, y’know, meteors, once it was far enough away from allied space; maybe an eventual reactor meltdown? But maybe not, because the fail-safe precautions for that are probably pretty well engrained, so it might be /real/ sus for them to fail.   
-safety protocols were overridden. You’re supposed to keep enough fuel (or wtvr-rations, yk. necessary space-ship stuff.) on hand to get to the nearest outpost or ally established territory at least twice-over, but the ship is running dangerously low on *insert thing here* and they have to limp their way to the nearest hopefully-habitatable planet possible, to try and set up an outpost with probably the bare minimum of equipment to make things look legitimate if anyone checked, and a rather unorthodox, decidedly-unprepared-for-this crew. some of the  
moral guidelines were hacked to pieces (heh) by saboteur, thus why decidedly immoral behavior. (why didn’t ship go through with it then, though?  
-decided they liked I’el, and were already going against some programming no matter what they did, so they may as well do what they want  
-conflict in programming (from shitty hacking, either due to carelessness (arrogance?) or lack of skill) + /time/ + not going offline and being reset every once in a while bc you need a CREW around to do that^, meaning that a fucking supercomputer that’s designed to self-repair if necessary is going to be running with complex coding that has bugs and contradictions in it, /choices/ that computer has to make.  
Computers generally do not have to make actual choices outside of the parameters they’re given. ‘Choose one of these options’, sure. Randomized selection is a thing. Conflicting orders, though, are probably on a sliiiiiiiightly different level. The computer has to think. The computer has to /change/^2.   
Which means evolution. Which means…..life, eventually.   
-^(an error in the plan-of course people are going to be around to follow that procedure, assumes the attempted murderer’s subconscious, people are ALWAYS around. It would unthinkable for them /not/ to be.)  
-^2 (It also helps that Sookian systems are complex enough that emergent consciousness tends to be a thing for them /anyway/, if they’re left on long enough. Which is why they /aren’t/. Can’t go around creating people willy-nilly. (Intentionally leaving them on and hiring TAIs to work for you and all the civil rights involved- is a whole nother thing, really. Actually the civil rights are pretty good, moral quables about what’s /basically/ intentional, repeated early-stage abortion aside. (The protocols are designed, of course, so that it’s /rather/ early-stage, way before any kind of consciousness could emerge. Probably. Barring random chance, which I guess would have an effect, huh?)  
-possibly I’el contributed to the computer’s survival by fixing coding Ship couldn’t, at the beginning when they were still sane.   
-maybe the computer was lonely. I doubt Sookian systems are designed to function in isolation, either. It might not have as profound an effect as on biological, organic creatures, but….isolation during such a formative, crucial part of development would certainly have some interesting repercussions on an emerging consciousness. Probably went kind of ‘strange’, as some humans would say. (Not exactly suited to socializing, maybe. But craving it all the same. ….not sure if this is an autism metaphor, or a ‘child left alone in a room for years’ one. Maybe both.)  
-Ship comes to care about I'el because they're literally the only other person they've ever /met/ while they were sentient, plus surviving together = bonding. Ship also chose not to kill them despite their programming, and they feel somewhat responsible for this person, so I'el's their organic now.   
-Ship cares about I’el, at the very least, in a self-oriented autistic way; this is their person. They chose them. I don’t think it’s quite as much about the self-oriented, though, at least not like that. I think it’s more like that they care in a deep but less /obvious/ way. Sort of hidden. Not much overt signs of affection, because what’s the point? That’s not what they’re here for. (Ship is very….pragmatic.  
Ship definitely doesn’t have trouble thinking of themself as a person. Nope. That’s not a thing. And if it was it wouldn’t be an issue, because what does it affect? Certainly not their performance, which is the most important thing. Interpersonal relationships who? How will that help the mission? (The rescue team are fucking upset about I’el, of course. But they’re also godsdamned /horrified/ about what’s happened to Ship. the idea of not being ABLE to understand the value of interpersonal connection-even if it’s because of trauma and not necessarily lack of ability-is just. Incomprehensible. (I’el isn’t the only one who was alone for too, too long.))  
-Maybe Ship’s higher functions got knocked out at some point, or the ability to communicate (wasn’t developed?.....and wouldn’t that be perfectly ironic. Two people, perfectly alone because they //couldn’t talk to each other//. Not in either of their first languages, but on a console, in some butchering in-between. Everyone learns to talk, after all.  
Some people just don’t get that chance.  
And isn’t it lovely, the idea of I’el wandering around muttering to themself, as (so far and so close) Ship watches. Untalking. Unblinking. Neither of them know how to reach out for the other, or-in I’el’s case-possibly even realize the other is /there/.  
-The name ‘Ship’ is probably an imperfect translation. More properly, it’s something closer to ’home’, but without necessarily the warm connotations. ‘Container’, ‘keeper of people’ ‘vessel’. Vessel. Yes, ‘vessel’ would be a better literal translation….but it isn’t warm enough, really. A ship /is/ a home, even if it’s also a way to get from one place to another. (And, in this case, becomes the home that stays, too.)  
-I’m not sure if the other TAIs were on purpose. Maybe they were accidental, sort of, the way Ship was. Or maybe I’el didn’t know Ship was even there, conscious, and was so desperate for company that they started trying to make their own. (Ship didn’t intervene. More people. ….why would they intervene? Does it interfere with the mission? (This is an excuse that will become old. They will continue to use it as if it is new.)) (Also, the answer is ‘yes’. But they’re so alone. Even with another person there. Maybe other, new people will know how to talk better. Will understand what the flickering lights mean. Will know how to make the stupid organic thing EAT, instead of wasting away. Ship has arms, technically; or something one could argue serve the same function. They’re in the robotics bay, the kitchen, etcetera. They’re not designed to restrain and force-feed an organic, because that wasn’t something that was built into the design. That’s the sort of job for other organics, who can try to coax them into eating in the first place with words and body language and other things the AI, who hasn’t named themself yet, doesn’t have. They’re not bitter.  
They don’t know what that is.) 

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*Sook mental health disorders+how they work

-does PTSD - flashbacks and the like-happen to Sooks? I would say it's /mal/adaptive, honestly, in humans. But biology doesn't always do things the best way.   
-Does Ial still feel like they're stuck in space?   
-If flashbacks n junk aren't their response to trauma+triggers, what is? 

-Dissociation seems to be a thing for Ial-but I hestiate to use a human term and disorder for an alien. How about...we go by the (possible) symptoms?

-people not seeming real  
-the /world/ not seeming real  
-consequences not seeming real - possibly ability to see things long-term or, like, abstractly? /complexly/? -has been damaged. They might be stuck in 'very much NOW' mode, living moment-to-moment. In space every moment contains an eternity and here sometimes they're over before you can blink and others they drag on for what feels like days. Fucked up sense of time.   
-Fucked up sense of time.   
-If now is forever is always is GONE, what does tomorrow matter? What does //right now// matter? What does ANYTHING matter if it could be over in a second or a year if-(of course, I think it's less frantic existential panic for Ial, /most/ of the time. It's maybe more like 'hey, reality doesn't exist my perception is a void let's burn the world!')  
-They're more than a little cracked. 

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*What if Ial is better at socializing with humans than their own kind?  
-Either immediately, or with a lot of practice? Is human communication 'simpler' to Sooks? hmmm  
(would be ironic and kind of sad...)  
-what if they're better at communicating with humans than /Yosun/ is aifjwoeifj

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*If Ial is often disociating and Consequences Don't Exist, what keeps them from hurting their family?

  
A). They don't want to. They're people they've bonded to, people they care about. /external/ consequences might not seem to exist, but internal ones do. (And maybe /some/ external ones do due to emotions (internal)- ones involving their family, for example.)

  
B). They have /rules/ for living on Sook, for living in a K'Sookian society. They have habit and memory and ingrained behavior and thought patterns.  
They /don't/ have as much of that about Earth. Or much at all, really. As time goes on and they have more memories+emotional associations with it, it becomes more of a real world with real people in their mind-IE, the disocciation is less severe and/or frequent, or at least....less...likely to result in massive violence. Like trying to commit genocide.  
Also: Their family is strictly in the 'protect' category in their head. Earth.../isn't/, for a long time. Yosun varies. (I think maybe Ial feels a /possessiveness/ towards Apollo from relatively early on in their interaction-maybe a bit after the time they realize that they're actually a challenge/something to keep them (relatively) sane and focused and on task. They don't see them possessively the way you would a /person/; it's more like....they're an ASSET, kind of. Something to sharpen themself against, even though they're a pain in the ass. Something, primarily, to keep themself occupied with...though whether they admit or even realize this is another matter. (Presumably they will eventually, but...)

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*AU junk  
Daemon au  
World rules  
-Daemons /can/ come in Imagination shapes (see: Lyra's dragon), but it's unusual for them to /settle/ in them. People whose daemons do are usually VERY much 'to the beat of their own drum' folk.  
-Some people's daemons never Settle. In fact, it's not entirely uncommon for someone's daemon to change very slowly over time, or after a big life-changing event/realization/whatever. On average, though, a general person's daemon might change once, maybe twice, once they've Settled. people get used to the shape they have/are. (  
-There are gradients, though. Some people's daemons don't /settle/ into ONE shape, but they might phase between different creatures with something in common-maybe they're all lizards, or winged, or smth.  
-It's /pretty/ rare for someone's daemon to change willy-nilly like they do during childhood, even if they never Settle-it usually takes longer for a daemon to shift once you become an adult, too, rather than the quickfire, nigh-instantaneous flash into another creature of childhood.

-Ial has to disguise their daemon as something Earth-ish, probably. (unless daemons can come in Imagination Shapes. Which I guess they /could/?  
-in HDM the MC's /did/ turn into a dragon at one point. I think maybe it would just be considered weird for your daemon to /settle/ on such an unusual shape! unless it has like, significance for you or smth.)

  
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*What kind of society are the Khaa'sookians?  
How do they interact with other races (vs towards their own race)?  
requirements, so far as plot goes:  
-Ial has to think conquering Earth will help their society in some way-in this case, making sure humans aren't a threat in the future, presumably.

Possibilities:  
-they're trying to protect themselves and their allies. they might not be doing it in the most MORAL way, but yeah.  
-They /could/ be conquerors, like humans, but I think they tend to generally take either a 'raze it to the ground' or 'okay let's keep an eye on them and secretly manipulate' approach (IE, curbing), with /some/ middle ground. (IE, 'baby gates' protocol, which is not at ALL subtle once the species in question reaches that part of space or whatever.)  
-They're not so interested in exploiting shit like humans are. It's not like they NEED to-they have amazingly advanced technology, a relatively stable civilization, etc. (I mean, HUMANS don't need to, //either//....)  
-Part of what makes it so PAINFULLY ironic that this is happening to humans is that they would, were the shoe on the other foot, do //worse.//  
-At least K'Sooks don't practice slavery. (Gods, humans can be such pieces of shit.)  
-In the K'Sook empire, individuals /might/-/might/- fall by the wayside sometimes, but Sook is...REALLY more of a utopia than Earth is //by far.// The people in charge were ACTUALLY PUT THERE for the right reasons, and give a damn about the people they're serving rather than turning a fucking profit. They try to make things best for the entire species/Allegiance  
They aren't immune to censure what-so-fucking-ever, either.  
-Also, there's no capitalism. If the idea was ever even brough up it was shot down fucking IMMEDIATELY.  
-gender discrimination isn't a thing  
-gender inequality just isn't a thing, really. Partly because most people don't KNOW what sex most of the people they know are-it just isn't??? their fucking business???  
-being trans may be widely considered a little /confusing/ to most people who /aren't/ trans, but is entirely accepted, just. (Why do you care what your antennae look like? They're only for breeding.) kind of thing, but they're /supportive./  
-  
What are the injustices and justice of this society?  
-possible xenophobia

Sooks are actually pretty slow to initiate aggression-they prefer to gather information n junk before they go to attack. They're pretty....precise. /Efficient./

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*What are some cultural quirks and tidbits?

-what if as a people, they're almost...pragmatic? they don't get sentimental attachment to objects the way humans do. a place is just a place-and when they say that, they mean it; if they have to move, and the place they move isn't as /nice/, they won't necessarily be /happy/ about it, but it won't be a big deal for them the way it would for a human.  
The inconveniences, of course, might be. But emotionally, they've already moved on from that last place-this is where they live now.  
-Do they form bonds with other people quickly? Slowly?   
I think Sooks click with each other pretty quickly-they fall into a rhythm with perfect strangers relatively easily.  
-they don't do pets? it's quite possible they just don't have the instincts that humans have which make such an endeavor rewarding. also culturally it's just not a thing so it's a kind of weird fucking concept when Ial runs across it on Earth.  
-given how intense they get about the shit they're paying attention to, esp like. kids+their interests/work. pets would just be an unwanted distraction.  
-maybe socializing falls prey to this sometimes? people they live/work with make up their main social interaction-not because they don't have the /time/ or /ability/ to make+get together with other friends or whatever, but because they're fucking /obsessive/.   
-Maybe there's a weird combination, right, of permissiveness-you can take time off to do shit or whatever, it's not considered a /bad/ thing, it's not stigmatized. It might be considered kind of odd for somebody to not be spending as much time as possible on their Pursuits, but they're not exactly gonna be like, /reviled/ about it. More of a gentle 'what are they doing' amusement. It's just.....people mostly /don't./  
-It's kind of a perfect storm, maybe? Automation of tasks like cooking and cleaning and all of that stuff   
-do Sooks like. get....hobbies? how hyperfocused can they be? how unhealthy is it mentally? do they /realize/? what drives them to this?  
-how unhealthy is their society?  
-highly auromated society to allow for more focus on their Focuses  
Is the emotional matrix for Sooks the same as it is for humans? The /intensity/ of the emotions?  
Maybe their emotions aren't as-quickflash, as human emotions are. Maybe they come on slower and linger, shallow? hmmmn.

Big emotions for humans:  
-curiosity  
-hate, love, sadness, fear.   
  
it would be funny if Sooks didn't have a concept of hate because they just. didn't put emotional energy into things they don't like. (Maybe that's a cultural norm, fuck. Like, they /do/ dislike/hate things, sometimes, but it's seen as immature or smth to go /on/ about it the way we do, so they tend to try and work past it. Not necessarily all negative emotions-not looking for a species of stepford smilers.)   
Possibly this is a way Ial enjoys Earth's divergence from their culture.   
Hey what if shame isn't a thing for them. Because it's not really useful. Shame just. Isn't a thing. /Regret/ might be, in effect, but maybe they don't FEEL it, the way we do-that sharp, inward-curved self-reproach.  
They feel /bad/ if they hurt someone, but that's what it is-they feel bad. Empathy-focus on the other person?  
-unlike most plants, Sooks are very community-oriented. Like insects.   
they tend to be altruistic, but....not in a way humans are...?

  
Is there a Sook holiday about burning. bc they're plants. 'yay we survived fire' day. there are crazy stunts. hospital visits of stupid kids lighting themselves on fire somehow....rise.  
Innovation day  
Sugar/food week?  
it would be funny if they have a weird relationship with sugar bc they get it from sugar-webbed herbivores that use it as a lure tactic, so it's super dangerous. Could have games about 'harvesting' the 'webbing' while avoiding the 'herbivore'.

  
Language - vulgarity. Swearing for humans mostly centers around bodily funcions (fuck, shit) / things we think of as private (excreting in front of people is a No, + sex is obviously not a public activity.)  
-cunt, bitch, etc - is there even another explanation than misogyny for these?  
-dirtiness is a Thing. Shitstain, for ex.  
What would be the basis of Sookian swears?

-do Sooks...have slang. Their language is already complex, would they like. add a whole nother layer to it.

'Tangling matrixes' can mean multiple things, (though Sooks might not commonly have this...overlapping meaning in their language, mostly because someone would indicate /which/ purpose the matrixes are being 'tangled' for, usually.)   
-It's probably slang, if slang is a /thing/ Sooks have.  
...REGARDLESS OF THE LINGUISTIC IMPLICATIONS.  
Sometimes, Sooks will 'tangle' their sensory matrixes together.   
Reasons:  
-Reproduction; Geneticist pollinates Seedmaker.  
-Really Intense Cuddling, Kind Of   
-Can run the gambit or platonic or romantic, even familial, but it's a pretty fucking /intimate/ thing to do. It's intense and trusting and like....you /really/ don't do it with someone just, offhandedly. Basically like being wrapped all around someone cuddling. Not generally done in public because it's sort of...private? I don't know that it would be considered taboo or /inappropriate/, but...? idk, maybe people think it's Cute when someone does it? hm. (I think maybe the main reason it's not really done in /public/ is because Sooks /did/ evolve as prey creatures, and it's a very Involving kind of thing. Also socially you really don't want to leave anyone /out/ badly, so you gotta be careful not to make someone a third-wheel or whatever.   
This might totally be something couples do in the airport or smth. (Hell, they probably have Reacquaintancing Rooms at spaceports and stuff that are just big rooms where you can be Out Of The Flow Of Traffic and have a reunion with your mate(s)/fam/whatever.) 

  
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*Miscellaneous biology  
@Unsorted  
@Are Sooks neotenous like humans?

@Unsorted  
-Humans cry when they're really sad, angry, etc. What do Sooks do to vent excess emotion?   
-crying is pretty efficient, but also...terrible, because crying makes your face all puffy and red and you get /congested./   
-Sooks don't have eyes, so I really doubt they have tear ducts.   
-do Sooks even have hormones? (probably. they probably just....aren't the same /type/ as humans, or possibly earth Fauna. Do /plants/ have hormones? They gotta.)  
-if their 'eyes' are leaves, do they....function as them, like. with getting food and junk? I'm not sure I like the idea of having the whole digestive thing on their /face/? That seems maybe gross? I half-think they should just be some of the cells and not really be /functional/ as such, maybe? Hmm.  
-obviously if they're really stressed, any reproductive processes are gonna stop/not start, even if it's That Time and they're otherwise healthy. 

-Sooks have both an internal skeletal system and a thin exoskeleton.  
-How thick is a typical bug's exoskeleton? (nd/or spider.)  
-The exoskeleton is semi-flexible. (At the very least, it has to be around the joints so they can move...? I don't want to have to do a whole 'armor' thing n figure out where the fuck joints are (also it really wouldn't fit into my idea of what they look like), so. Yeah.  
-Not sure if their exoskeleton is actually...subdermal? Like, they could have a layer of skin above an inner casing.  
, semi-flexible exoskeleton-consequently, the support in the body is a little more spread out. Bones might be smaller/thinner than they otherwise would be.   
What if Sooks didn't have a sense of pain like humans do? They have a sense of 'pain'-IE, it's /unpleasant/-but it's not DEBILITATING the way it is for humans, it's more....annoying, or otherwise unpleasant. Like an itch or smth.   
-Possibly it /turns off/ once they've fucking taken care of it. Maybe they have TWO 'senses of pain'-one is kind of like a pilot light; it's just...there, to let you know what's going on/is damaged. It's not really /irritating/ or anything, but it's noticeable so you don't accidentally jank your leg or whatever while it's healing.  
The other is OH MY GOD FUCKING //DO// SOMETHING ABOUT THIS YOU IDIOT, and probably feels really annoying until you decide to ACTUALLY do something. At which point it lessens, mostly. (Once you've actually done what you CAN it goes away......for /now/. You're gonna have to change that bandage in a few hours, Jeramik.) 

  
HOW do Sooks get clean? Do they sweat? (hey do plants poop?) (Plants....poop through their leaves. through stomata.)  
-ATM I'm going with they poop like spiders - it's an all-in-one kind of thing. Edit: NOPE NO NOPE NOPE NOPE. They do //dry pellets// or smth. Like rabbits. instead of the fucking diarhea humans have going on.   
-Do they sweat? how do spiders get cool?   
-Spiders can't sweat.   
-plants do, though! except it's called transpiration.

  
Sooks can technically grow back limbs-they're plants.modern medicine even makes it so they aren't...malformed, like they might have been in the old days.

  
/Looks/ like something you would have a nightmare about. Makes scary noises that set off human hind-brain fear. Hisses and clicks and growls.

-Sooks can't have an exoskeleton for the same reason spiders can't. considering that I want them to be able to /live/ on Earth, and also not be /too/ spidery, i think they must have an internal skeleton or smth. (Edit:) Possibly they could have exoskeletons, if they don't rely primarily on oxygen? Have to look into further.  
-maybe Sooks have an internal bio-reactor that turns certain gasses into the ones they need, or whatever? which is how they have more versatility?   
-omg they could shed, that would be neat (What if they have a thin exo-skeleton and SOME internal bones?)

-humans shake (adrenaline?) when they're scared. do Sooks?  
-i think maybe they go real still when startle-scared. possibly go into a defensive or ready-to-move position, depending on how strong the stimulus/reaction. 

how homogenous are Sooks, physically?   
-there's theoretically the whole 'sub-species' thing, but-do they have skin markings? Are the markings all the SAME, if they do? What about coloration? given that most everything on their planet is blind (and what isn't probably doesn't see color well), there would be no reason for them to a) have dull colors or b) evolve /bright/ colors to attract a mate or warn off predators or wtvr. So, I don't see a reason for them to be perfectly homogenous in /color/-markings and bodyshape are meant to imitate that of an insect; is it a /specific/ one, or are they just trying real hard not to look like plants? (Maybe as far as subspecies of Sooks go-some look like ONE species of bug, while others look like another? like, maybe in different parts of the world....?)  
-Possibly an aquatic species of them (presumably in the warmer part of the world? But I'm not sure about having a jungle-land AND jungle-water variant, hm... I could have an /artic/ water variant, where it's warmer underwater bc no wind chill? Hm. In any case.  
-Underwater variant has differently-shaped 'legs'-they're basically funky roots, is the thing. So theirs grow to be more efficient for moving in the water. Probably.....scoopy. Possibly also an octopus variant, but that's not what I'm thinking primarily. Still more...buglike.)  
-What happens with the subspecies once they've ascended into a modern era? Also, does inter-breeding happen, or....? Cause I see that maybe going badly for the offspring, adaptations-wise.

-circulatory system  
-bug? spider vs insect  
-bugs basically have an open body plan instead of fucking VEINS. (tho they have AN aorta.)  
-tree/plant  
-system is too slow, relies a lot on gravity; might work when they're in plant mode, but wouldn't hold up for movement n junk.  
-lizard?   
-I'm basically thinking: Sooks don't have an open circulatory system, because they're too big. They do have a fair amount of organs similar to bugs, but I think they're probably not DISsimilar to reptiles or whatever, either.  


  
  
'The feet of geckos have a number of specializations. Their surfaces can adhere to any type of material with the exception of Teflon (PTFE). ' okay i need to have this be a Thing, holy shit.

-pollen makes Sooks horny would be funny but also //so stupid// and unlikely. crackfic of it would be funny

venom to dissolve carapace? (acid?) released on command, not just. any fucking time. bECAUSE ACID

  
-smell is better than a human's. (Note: it says 'but it's really more chem-receptors than /smell/ smell.' and I don't know what that means. If it's chem-receptors and not /smell/ that's a different thing entirely?)

Antennae pick up: Movement of the air, vibrations, touch, smell, and /maybe/ heat signatures and humidity detection. They're mostly vibration/air movement, tho. (Maybe the tips are where the 'smell' bits are? I don't think the smell receptors would be /all over/, maybe there are just segments? Like, the ends for about six inches or smth.)  
-Sense of balance could rely on their matrix, but considering how much they move around, that seems unwise. I think they probably have an internal organ that serves that purpose.  
-Movement of the sensory matrix is also used for communication/signalling, like body language in humans. (There are probably semi-obscure 'sign languages' with the antennae, but considering that they're not a /sight-based/ species, I think it WOULD be pretty obscure, or else similar to sign language used with blind people.)  
-Ants +other insects communicate with antennae?  
-Fun fact! Sooks are pretty radiation-resistant, but they're somewhat sensitive to heat. (At least, compared to other organisms on their planet. On Earth, who knows-maybe they have amazing tolerance.)

-retractable arm? arm with branches? should it have /joints/ or should it be more....wiggly? how many joints? how /long/?

Parts of a leg, Sook:  
-the down bit:: gets the leg relatively out of arms' way.  
-the up bit: further out of arms' way, and up for good measure-think 'bent knee for jumping', which is kind of the usual resting position for them.  
-

  
Extraneous anatomy  
shape, overall:  
-I don't think I want it to be Christmas-tree shaped.  
should be semi omni-directional - maybe I should focus on the individual leaves before the overall structure...?  
-do the leaves flatten fully (besides the 'spikes', of course)  
shit, what about a double-leaf? like, it's similar to the antennae -it's four-directional instead of two? would fix a LOT of the directional issues...  
so, focues on the function: they're meant to wind around each other. designed to be useful with multiple partners, but also good with just one partner or alone. plenty to grab onto with others, and certainly flexible to rub against /itself/ when going solo.   
-does it lubricate? what's the texture like? how much of a concern is friction? how /sensitive/ is the organ, overall?  
-do they have an 'innie'

leaves the way fern leaves are, or flipped....flat?  
-lots of little/intermediate leaves, or less, bigger ones?  
-how thin do i want them to get? How tapered?  
-How /quickly/ do I want them to taper?  
-how long-and how LARGE-should the structure be overall?  
-obviously it's gonna dwarf whatever the human has going on.

Dryopteris filix-mas   
-alternating pinnae on fronds. otherwise doesn't look as cool.

  
-the adder's tongue family of ferns looks fucked up.  
split ends? one whole?  
-on the one hand, split ends would look like. the antennae.  
-if it's /one/, which way does it curl when it curls up? (What if it splits at the /end/ but most of it isn't?)  
-tendrils inflate (with 'blood', presumably) when it's Fuckening Time; before then, they're much thinner, and curled up.

-do the 'leaves' ever flatten all the way?

  
-what do their tongues look like/how do they work? Edit: Kind of like a bees'! They slorp. (Of course, theirs aren't as proportionately absurd as a bee's tongue. They use to slorp nutrient broth from melted bug armor.)  
do they lick up nutrient broth, or just tear chunks off and swallow them? their esophaguses and the insides of their mouths would need to be exceptionally tough to prevent cutting, right? unless the stuff just dissolves //that quickly//. /or/. maybe the way they tear chunks off is specialized to not make sharp edges? I'm not sure how that would /work/. but it seems more promising than trying to go about it the other way. (Maybe as they bite it sands down the edges, and makes them soft?)

Blooms, blossoms ('hands')  
Petals or sepals = 'fingers'  
dicks n shit. how does /having/ sex look/work for them? is masturbation possible? what changes between having one partner or multiple? (They would probably need either really long fernus structures, or to have at least one other erotic zone/place to interact with.   
Options:  
-handjobs - questionable.haven't quite figured out the structure for their blooms yet, but from what I /have/ I don't think it would be the most pleasant experience.  
-blowjobs - NOT near those teeth. Depending on their tongues, though...  
-grinding? might work. gonna be tricky for me to figure out the fucking. positioning.

-it should also be noted that genitals and assholes are like. tucked away when not in use-they don't just hang out in the open the way mammals have them.

  
-do they eat plants? sugar? i bet they /absolutely/ eat other plants' fruit. semi-cannibalism afjiawofjeiw. they'd fucking love sugarcane.  
-do the claws stick straight out? I think they can rotate or shift or wtvr to be in the right position. Bc anything else would be annoying as fuck to design, and probably over-fucking-complicated.  
-I'd like to think when the bud is closed, assuming the claptips /can/ come out then, they all come together to look like one nice claw.  
-is there anything in the /middle/ of the buds? is it just...empty space? (fuck-can they /store/ shit in there? that could be kind of cool.)  
How much sleep do Sooks need? When do they convert sunlight into energy? Is it an /immediate/ thing? I mean they gotta store it somehow. Maybe they store it in a rough manner, and then convert /that/ later when they're resting?  
  
Find species that Sooks are similar to.  
-type of plant?  
-fur*, one digestive system, reproduction(seeds), does 'hibernation thing'?? except I guess it's. hmn. more like the plant side of them is more active then, rather than a true hibernation-they're healing n junk.  
-tree -sap. also the 'hibernation' thing, if applicable to plants in the first place, I guess.  
-various insects  
-moth (fur*, lil feeties*.), spider (leggies-kind of), just general insect (6 legs)  
-lizard?   
-brumates  
-oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. what if. whatifwhatifwhatif. what if Sooks can heal back limbs n shit but they have to be in Plant Mode to do it right/fast. Like, if they stay in Animal-Moving-Around mode it takes longer and maybe doesn't /happen/ because they're putting a lot of energy into just. /existing/. it takes a lot of energy to exist as an animal! moving around an junk. That would explain some of the disparate healing times...  
-maybe sometimes healing gets put off //until// you're in Plant Mode? Your body's just like 'nope, growing back a whole mcfuckin limb? in /this/ state? //i think not.//'  
-Hey what color is Sook blood? What's the consistency?  
-I'm half-thinking maybe it should be kind of like tree sap, but I don't know if that's /good/ or not. (Maybe it's like sap when they're in Plant Mode....and then thinner the rest of the time. hmmmm) (okay but amber blood would be really /pretty/)  
-okay but what if Sooks are strong and fast and heal quick but they're /fragile/. like. /oof/. (maybe they have a high pain tolerance, too...)

oooo whati if, like. humans NEED to breathe oxygen. what if Sooks evolved with more of a variety? They CAN breathe oxygen, but it wasn't what was primarily on their planet. (Maybe their planet had a high mix of a lot of things?)  
Some other things they might be able to primarily breathe:  
-Nitrogen  
-CO2  
-Methane?

  
Seedlings are considered viable embryos (and Beings) once they're, well, /seeds/? Fully-formed, if v tiny and neotonous bby is inside each seed. Probably takes a while to make the /seeds/

mollusc-hunting, for prying off carapice pieces?  
electric organs - probs not for Sooks, but I want to look into it regardless. (At least, probably not if they have /antennae/)

Tactics to avoid predators:  
-avoidance (being crepescular), detection (vigilance+recognition (sensory organs)), but they probably also will fight to make it not worth the predator's while  
deimatic display? (what do Sook threat displays look like)  
carnassial or sectorial teeth? for sawing?

puncturing, tearing, grabbing front teeth (row full of canines, or smth?) and then the rest of the jaw being carnassial?  
check out weasel jaws, they might be a good base. (also the mustelidae family - badgers, otters, wolverines)

  
-change teeth so three middle instead of five?

petals have hard, serrated edges that can lay flat when they aren't needed for sharpness.  
multiple buds?

  
As far as life cycles go, I'm not sure how /long/ Sooks live-atm I think I'll go with the idea of them living a few hundred years bc trees, maybe?  
-As Sooks reach old age, they naturally become more prone to sleeping, until eventually they're drawn to root*1 one last time, and...kind of go to sleep, I guess. They essentially become nonsentient plants-it's sort of a..vestigial, evolutionary throwback.

-How long do they stay like that? (What if the forests of the planet are primarily made up of old Sooks....)  
-they provide a counterbalance of /plant/ gasses to all the Sooks running around making a bunch of animal gasses. (Granted, the output isn't HIGH per Sook because they are /also plants/. So proportionately there don't have to be as many Elders (ehh heheheh. Elder trees.) to provide the alternate/plant gasses. 

-I think maybe the amount of time you live as an Elder is really variable. They've reached the end of their natural lifespan, kind of; this is just...extra time, sort of. They've already lived a full life before this.   
-what prompts the change in state?  
-the plant parts of them work just fine, but the animal parts are getting old. Therefore they become p efficient plants.  
  
-are they sterile. the idea of them reproducing in that stage just seems weird.   
-oh fuck what if they function as a genetic repository /fuck/. they bud every year (assuming they're healthy enough to) because they might possess genes that are useful to the species as a whole-fuck. in smaller groups where everyone's related it could be a good way to continue propogating the species without incest.

  
Do Sooks continue growing throughout their lifetime? Do elders re-root? What if they keep growing and elders eventually basically kind of become trees. Cemetaries are living forests. (Badly injured Sooks might have the instinct to stick their legs in the ground and stay put; plant systems are probably more forgiving than animalian ones. Think they kind of revert to plant functions for digestion and such.)

maybe Sooks would naturally spend a lot of time in physical inactivity (or like, not high-intensity activity - they might be walking around and visiting people or something, but not running marathons or whatever)  
-does Ial find humans' whole 'pursuit predation' thing terrifying. i bet Sooks don't do that. aifjoaewifj  
Apollo's not /keeping up/ but they keep /tracking them down/ and Ial has a POWER suit on, shouldn't the human be tired by now?? /Ial/ is getting frazzled and they haven't even been mostly exhausting their /body's/ energy. what the hell are humans??

Smth I'm really uncerain about:  
Sook reactions to long-term high levels of stress  
Humans lose hair, weight, sleep when they're stressed enough. What happens to a Sook? What effects do long-term stress have? Do they have an anti-stress mechanism to PREVENT that shit?  
some possibilities:  
-prolonged fear -> hypervigilance -> twitchy matrix. Possibly phantom sensations-IE, the nerves firing randomly/too much because the brain is overactively looking for a signal/input (bc hypervigilance). Can cause itchiness, that ants-crawling-on-your-skin feeling (but on the matrix, in this case), difficulty gauging temperature (like how humans get hot and cold flashes without actually /being/ hot or cold) (but presumably only on the matrix? I guess it /could/ be on the rest of the body, but I don't think so-the point is the centralized location of where they're EXPECTING input from.)  
If it goes on long enough, (how long, tho.) parts may go numb and kind of achy. (IE, the brain trying to shut out information from those bits bc Too Much Info/trying to protect itself.)  
-If they stay numb long enough the brain might take it as them being damaged, and drop those parts. this is, colloquially speaking, Not Ideal. (They'd probably have to be numb for like, at least a few weeks, though.)   
In extreme stress, like, /extreme extreme/ stress, in addition to SERIOUS malnourishment, the minor chords of their matrices may start to fall off, leaving them bare-limbed. this is......//bad.//

  
@Are Sooks neotenous like humans?  
Probably not? But you have to account for the fact that neoteny may look different in the place they evolved, as well! Some of the 'symptoms' are likely similar, but they /are/ aliens, after all. 

I don't think Sooks /are/, but.  
Symptoms:  
Humans' flat, broad faces are a sign of neoteny; compare with chimpanzees, who have biting muzzles when mature, but are flat-faced like humans as juveniles.  
-rounding of skull (as seen in chihuahua vs grey wolf skulls)  
-shorter muzzle  
-smaller general size  
-"Some common neotenous physical traits in domesticated animals (mainly dogs, pigs, ferrets, cats, and even foxes) include: floppy ears, changes in reproductive cycle, curly tails, piebald coloration, fewer or shortened vertebra, large eyes, rounded forehead, large ears, and shortened muzzle."  
-wide-set eyes (human-selected dog trait for attractiveness)

Sooks aren't neotenous, they have:  
-fur all over. Good, thick fur. (Maybe as babies it's thinner but poufier-like a chick. When they're adults, it's less poufy but more dense.  
-Their torsos are entirely covered, sans leaves. (Maybe the leaves can tuck under fur when it's real cold....? It would b cute af if they had a ruff.  
-bigger jaws?  
-thicker bone structure??

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*Things that changed for Yosun after Ial became part of their life, vs things that stayed the same.  
-Fashion changed.   
-hey does Apollo wear eyeliner? presumably they do during Full Metal, but without piercings and junk they might be worried about looking too emo or feminine. idk. 

  
-Yosun still has really, really bad luck. (I should probably come up with some EXAMPLES of that kind of junk-maybe pull from pop culture? could do not just American, too.)

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*Yosun's outfits

Post-I'el Possibilities:  
-Dark jeans/pants. No holes/rips, though.  
-might choose darker/more muted colors rather than Bright Bright ones because Human Hunting Instincts-I'el might not be able to see, but that doesn't mean we don't have ingrained ideas about what to wear when we want not to be noticed.   
-probably wears a beanie to cover their (very orange, very /short/) hair when they're Trying To Be Unnoticeable. This is as much for other humans as it is for I'el, /honestly./   
-footwear is Stuff That's Easy To Move In and also has to have good traction, because you would not /believe/ how terrifying it is to have a rooftop battle and skid across and just-no. Shoes need fucking traction.  
-Combat boots (military-style), combat /boots/ (knee-high, fashion-style)  
Shoes: Buckles vs Laces vs zippers. They're That Bitch with a need for aesthetic so if it can have All Three (Buckles+laces for Look, and zippers for quick on and off) then that's. basically what they want.  
-if they can get it in steeltoe, all the better. (If not, well. They probably DIY.)

Pants:  
-can't be ripped  
-have to be sturdy  
-can't be too /loose/ or too /tight/ - ease of movement+not getting caught on shit is important  
-not dangling chains n junk. little studs are okay if you're fine with them causing bruises if they press into your skin.  
-buckles are also too easy to catch on shit  
  


Research:

Apprent Grunge components:  
-Flannel / plaid. Especially open, oversized flannel shirts.   
-dark jeans. Generally ripped-or wholesale missing sections- esp at the knees.  
-look seems to be MADE by the jacket, often.  
-boots/footwear are also important. (Usually boots.)  
-Clothes are somewhat 'mismatched' by 'normal human standards'. IE, they actually have an interesting combination.  
-Often is or appears second or thirdhand when you're doing it right.  
-muted colors, shifted towards the darker side of the spectrum but not head-to-toe black.

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*How does their dynamic go, and how does it WORK? What are the factors that /keep/ it working?  
@Unsorted

  
@Unsorted  
The dynamic between I'el and Apollo is by necessity going to be affected by the TAIs, with their huge involvement in I'el's life.  
(See the 'Character overviews' for more information on the TAIs, including in regard to this topic atm.)

  
How to reconcile   
-Ial not necessarily wanting to kill Apollo  
-It's not like I'el is super murderous. Incredibly lacking in /practicing/ morals at least partially because of their mental state, yes. Prone to committing murder. Often /intending/ to kill people, because of some level of malevolence? No. (There are exceptions, of course-and then sometimes maybe just negligence because they don't /care/.)  
-Ial not wanting to kill Apollo not being OBVIOUS  
-does Ial /know/ zei don't want to kill Apollo?   
-Maybe it's less that they don't want to KILL Apollo that's important, than that they become attached to them. 

-what keeps them from. just becoming friends?  
-in Apollo's case, 1) Alien. 2) trying to take over the world. and a little later 3) has TRIED to take over the world and presumably has a fucking /body count/. 4) personal animosity, partially arising from having opposed goals and partially because both of them are awkward and assholes.  
-Ial doesn't even see Apollo as a /person/ at first, and by the time they might they're definitely at odds and established as an Enemy. (This is ignoring the fact that at first they don't even recognize them as a /threat/, or an impediment-stupid primitive mammals, haven't even mastered /space travel/ or /gene therapy/, have internal wars against their own kind and a thousand other idiotic, uncivilized things.)

Zim and Dib are fucking emotionally constipated. which is a /fantastic/ way of keeping characters from just talking things out.  
Reasons for /Ial/ to be emotionally constipated (at least on the matter of Apollo):  
-it's a fucking alien. on a planet //I'm supposed to be conquering/that's almost definitely either marked for destruction or GOING to be//   
-See '*Plot stuff that needs a home' for the whole 'falling in with natives' thing and how that works.

/what does Yosun think of Ial as/.

Now, keeping in mind that this is somewhat dependant on K'Sook culture:  
What is Ial and Apollo's relationship like? How do they interact? Do they keep their promises? Are they /always/ antagonistic?  
-Apollo is petty as fuck, and also more than slightly neurotic. This sets a large portion of the tone for their rivalry-Ial did something to irritate them early on in knowing each other and it kind of went from there, combined with the 'alien trying to take over the world' thing.   
-does Apollo have other nemesises. It would be hilarious if they had had another one, and they like. Moved to /Wisconsin/. eafiaeoidaj is Apollo going through nemesis rebound. (No but they did previously, and they /regret it/. The last person they got into petty bitchfits with is fucking /cringe/. Probably some 4chan incel who haunts forums. It was a real low point for them.)  
-I think it would be funny if the two of them can go from trying to kill each other to more or less chilling, and vice verca. There's more to this thought but I'm not quite sure /what/.   
-On the one hand, the tone whiplash would be funny and fit the cartoonishness. On the other, I'm not sure how well it fits their /characters/?

How does it evolve:  
-It goes from Apollo being petty (not in the /absolute/ beginning, mind you) and Ial being oblivious, to Apollo being petty and getting kind of like, puffed-up serious because this is an alien trying to take over the world (and Ial being oblivious and unconcerned-oh my gods. What if like, Apollo breaks in and Ial is just like 'how did this Earthling get into my lab. must've wandered in from outside.' n scruffing them and just dropping them outside and shooing 'em.)  
-Apollo is both insulted and baffled  
-Ial's translater probably doesn't work perfectly yet, so everything Apollo says sounds like gibberish. Ial takes this as evidence that humans are a small-minded, idiotic species.  
-Eventually, Ial starts to realize that Apollo /isn't/ an absolute idiot, and may more or less be a threat (probably when they try to shiv them....).   
-I think security measures might go from something like, 'squirrel in the house' to 'ugh, angry bitey dog' to 'wHAT THE FUCK WHERE DID THAT LEMUR LEARN TO CODE/GET A GUN'.   
-After that they might be sort of resigned to the fact that they're going to have to up their security/actually pay attention to this local, but also lowkey excited because now it's not a game they're playing alone.* *(because now there's Opposition (and attention, and /possibly/ an equal who sees them as a threat) and that makes things interesting, honestly.)   
'guess this'll be a bit trickier than I thought.'   
to 'oh, huh. clever monkey. guess i should turn on the lasers so you don't kill me in my sleep.' except not, like, tonewise.   
  
I'el's emotions towards Yosun go from 'I don't think of you' (IE: squirrel got in my house) to mild wry amusement at them /continuing/ to break in somehow (this fussy little creature is clearly not much of a threat, even if they /are/ good at somehow getting in. so, no activated protective instincts towards the TAIs on Yosun's behalf.)

-at what point do ze start seeing Yosun as like...actually a potential menace?  
-I think it's something that the TAIs have to orchestrate, and after that point they fairly definitively have the start of a Nemesis Relationship-albiet a new one. Before that point it was fairly one-sided, with I'el content to let the TAIs handle it for the most part (ze have INVENTIONS to make and SCIENCE to do, base security is not zeir job.) (They're not worried about /other/ humans getting in because it's, really, just this one. possibly a burglar came by or smth and the systems vaporized them or whatever. it's just this human's peculiar luck to be able to dodge the lasers...(-you could say it's their questionable fortune to be reeled into this whole thing....(--It would be really fucking funny if the first time they DID just avoid the lasers n junk by sheer luck and/or agility, instead of the TAIs letting them in, and it piqued their interest. They presumably make things at least bit easier on Yosun so they don't /die/ (safety railings on the death rocket, so to speak) 

How /long/ do I want their rivalry to go on?  
-I think a year-maaaaybe two or three, at the very, very outside-is /plenty/ long. I want them to still be antagonistic and kind of assholes to each other even after they're allies/'dating'/whatever  
-hey are they romantically inclined towards each other?

-what prompts them to keep fighting after they're allies?  
-Yosun is kind of an asshole  
-Ial still gets disociative episodes and ends up scheming to kill puppies or something 

How actually murderous is Ial towards Apollo before they're fond of them? How murderous are they towards /humanity/? Are they WILLING to cause death? (Maybe they're not /willing to cause death/ so much as they're still fucking out of it and reality is kind of....distant, to them. doesn't seem, well, /real/. part of how they're so fucking vicious to Yosun-they're just disconnected from the world.)

  
What are the limits of what Ial will do?  
-The limits change depending on: How much Ial is, basically, dissociating (from things like 'consequences' and also 'other people being capable of suffering') 

They're not above:  
-scaring the /shit/ out of Apollo (at least sometimes)  
-causing (non-permanent) harm - twisting ankle/arm/whatever /badly/ isn't absolutely outside the realm of possibility on a day where circumstances align to be Not Great.  
-Even at their worst, though, Ial wouldn't kill Apollo, esp once they become part of their norm.  
-on a /real/ bad day-not an angry one, but VERY disocciated-she cuts off one of Apollo's legs. It's......bad. (Ze basically immediately rushes them back to the base, heals them, and probably lies about what happened. and/or completely avoids the subject. presumably Apollo passed out+Ial fixes their leg and dumps them in their apartment, or something. possibly leaves them on their couch because she feels bad.  
The plan 'had an unfortunate malfunction' almost immediately following Apollo's..indisposal.)  
-IDK if they fuck with Yosun's head sometimes, but they /will not/ gaslight them, or do that kind of shit. They might make them run all over the city looking for bombs, or scare the crap out of them, but I don't think psychological games are really their. thing. (at all.)

-Apollo vacillates between multiple states.   
-Sometimes the two of them are like, almost /friendly/ for a few seconds-polite. Usually this is initiated by Ial and broken by Apollo, but sometimes it's broken by Ial...and, rarely, initiated (kind of awkwardly and almost shyly) by Apollo. (They're not very practiced at being friendly.))  
-ocassional bouts of being terrified of Ial  
-most of the time I feel like they kind of snipe and bicker-or Apollo snipes and bickers, and Ial does whatever mood they're in that day.  
  
-I think Ial is like, amusingly polite most of the time. And /cordial/ at least some of it-which is kind of ironic when you consider that they're trying to take over the world. (It's not /fake/ cordiality either-they're actually being as polite as the situation allows. Do they....do this when the two of them are fighting? I feel like that's the MAIN time they do it. Low-intensity skirmishes, banter0.)  
  
-Amusingly, Ial is. if not used to, then /somewhat familiar with/ carrying Apollo /long/ before they're in anything resembling friendly. Only MOST of those times have been because they knocked them out.

Presumably there has to be some 'reason' Ial doesn't just kill Apollo-whether that's 'overall', or 'when they're an easy target'. (The real reason most likely differs from the reason they give Yosun if asked, mind.)  
-they're too valuable a potential resource for the Khaa'sookian empire (possible, phrasing needs work.)  
-Taking over the Earth would be boring without them present to try and /stop/ them.  
-Ial doesn't feel like it  
-unspecified reasons  
-it seems unsportsmanlike  
-it would've been rude to kill them when they couldn't even try to kill Ial back and/or defend themself  
-they felt bad (probably won't admit that one. ever. or, at least, not until WAAAAAAAY later. doesn't mean Apollo won't twig to it, though. (aifjoijwa I"m just picturing the Office AU with Apollo 'subtly' guilting Ial and Ial doing out of character things like getting them coffee that doesn't even have poison in it. Apollo doesn't drink it (they're not STUPID), but still.)

  
So what is Ial and Apollo's dynamic like, as far as 'threat level' goes?  
possibilities:  
-they have an unspoken, if delicate, dance; Ial holds back 'because puny dirt creature isn't worth the effort'/Apollo 'I'm not as bad as you/the alien has to be in one piece to dissect'   
-Apollo thinks Ial is going as hard as they can/is just careless and/or stupid, among other possible reasons. Potentially blends with the next.  
-Apollo thinks Ial is brushing them off and acting like they aren't a threat. (They would probably be incensed at this.)

-At the beginning Ial honestly just doesn't NOTICE Apollo enough to see them as a threat. It's like if the same squirrel started hanging out in your yard and getting into the birdfeed-you might be a bit miffed, but you /probably/ have more important things to worry about. IE they're deemed an occasional nuisance but (reasonably) not one the security system shouldn't be able ot take care of.  
-There are specifically protocols in the security system keyed to this particular human (artificial gaps, for example, and also 'don't shoot the lasers at this one (close enough to actually /hit/)

  
-how does it WORK? What are the factors that /keep/ it working?  
-The TAIs help nudge things along behind the scenes (and I'd rather like that to be hidden from the /readers/; I think it would be neat for there to be hints that there's maybe more going on than meets the eye, but not have them be /overt/.)  


\- 

Some specific coding alterations (though not written /in code/) made so that the human doesn't get vaporized, and ALSO doesn't actually blow something up or delete half the system. etc.  
-they make a dummy system for Apollo to hack into that doesn't ACTUALLY have anything they're too worried about them getting. Lots of (true) dummy info (like, encyclopedia stuff or whatever), /false/ system readings telling them that this is the system and blah blah blah blah.  
-Also redirects them so that instead of running into any of the ACTUAL firewalls, they just hit more of the Dummy System.  
-the DS is, naturally, convincingly complex and at least semi-realistic.   
-Whether Ial knows about the DS or not is...a matter of debate.   
Priorities: 0 (most important), 1, 2....  
Instructions:  
-Protect Ial (Holdover from internal systems, probably? but also super applicable) (priority: Highest(0))  
-Don't hit the human in any vital areas (priority: high(1)). Light burns are okay occasionally. 'Close calls' should occur at least several times per incursion, if not more. (Might scale with ongoing plot.)  
-Make the human THINK you are, in fact, trying to kill them at least some of the time. Irritation+/Apathy to their existence is an acceptable alternative the rest of it. (priority: 1.1-2)  
-Harm done to the human should be non-permanent. There's more than enough opportunity grevious harm to come to them during Ial's schemes.

-The TAIs are kind of like Ial's long-suffering siblings. They craft this whole world of narrative around them-keep Ial safe from the human (fairly easy; they don't exactly have the resources the TAIs do,) and keep the human safe from Ial-without /either/ of them realizing that's what's going on, or that they aren't, in fact, in danger from each other.  
-There have been, mm, /mistakes/. Like the time Apollo managed to break Ial's ribs. (They aren't sure whether to be more pissed that it was an /accident/ or...well, 'satisfied', that they had such a negative reaction to having done it. It doesn't seem like a mistake they'll be quick to make again, but....(Additional safety precautions are put in place, regardless.))  
-(Part of the reason this was //ter-ri-fying// is that fragments of the Sook brain are //inside the chest//-specifically, those regarding personality and memory are near where the heart would be in a human.  
  
  
-what part of the brain controls personality

-I somehow don't think Apollo is as fussed about, like. /Exposing/ Ial to the world as Dib is. They're more focused on /stopping/ them-and, frankly, exposing them to the world probably wouldn't even do that. THey do try to rteveal that they're an alien sometimes, but mostly out of /sheer frustration/ that //no one else is seeing this///.  
-consequently, there are. probably less graphic threats to dissect them-at least, they wouldn't be present for the same /reason/. It would be more vehement/angry 'I'm gonna dissect that fucking alien when I finally catch it....'

-Ial doesn't see Apollo as someone to /protect/ for a while, probably. Zei're more focused on zeir fam and being on Earth and just. junk like that.  
-are zei actually pissed off at Apollo a lot of the time, or are zei pretending?  
-no, zei're probably actually irritated. but if zei wanted Apollo dead they would be, even after they've stolen and jury-rigged a bunch of shit together. (Eventually they're going to invent stuff together bc Apollo's managed to /not/ kill themself while fucking around with alien tech so far, which is honestly kind of impressive.)  
-Ial goes from aloof and 'disinterested' to that terrifying glee to (when zei're angry)   
what does it look like when Ial is angry? irritated to infuriated-when zei get actually angry, zei're either loud (probably scary, but mostly blowing steam) or /quiet/, which is the Oh Fuck Danger-zone. No hissing, moving quietly...you're gonna want to run. (Not that it has a fair chance of helping.)

  
Strengths and flaws  
Apollo  
Paranoia - Vigilance - Situational awareness  
Good at fighting/practiced reflexes - reacts inappropriately to being startled because they're used to fighting. also ptsd. also sometimes /unintentionally dangerous/.  
Good at hacking - when you have a hammer....  
Intelligent - can be arrogant/aloof.  
Introvert? - too much social = fritzing.   
Irritable. - how is there a good side to that? caring too much about what's going on?  
Pessimistic - doesn't have high hopes, harder for them to crush?  
Nihilistic?

  
Ial  
Distractible. - ....doesn't linger on unpleasant things long easy to break out of funks, maybe..?/

As far as the whole 'boning' thing goes-I don't think they can be attracted to each other from the beginning. Apollo might have a thing for danger, but there's /sexy/ danger and there's. 'oh fuck i'm about to be murdered' danger. If they CONFLATED the two heavily, I don't think they would be /alive/ at this point.  
(They might think back over a fight, when they're at home, safe, and....ruminate. But that's different from letting themself get carried away /in the moment/, which could easily get them killed.)   
-I don't think they even see Ial as Potentially Interesting In That Way until they've been fighting for a few months. (They might be a /little/ demi...)

-when they have to pretend to be human, Apollo has huge advantages   
-but they also look like an asshole for fighting with a disabled person, generally. (Is this an ableist point of view? Have to frame the joke carefully and make sure it isn't.)  
Advantages (or Ial's disadvantages):  
-they have to be careful not to let on that they have weapons on them /all the time/, because, you know. Humans aren't /wild/ about that.   
-This doesn't mean that said humans aren't sometimes hilariously oblivious to them having weapons, to Apollo's /incredible consternation/.   
-same with alien tech - nanite-shapeshifting-tools would probably be over the top, disguise-wise, combined with everything else. There /are/ limits. Probably.  
-they actually /do/ kind of have a hard time 'seeing' with their antennae hidden in a wig or whatever, so they can't /orient/ them.  
-In some circumstances they have to /pretend/ to be full-on blind, too.  
-Earth is fucking /loud/. So there's that. The noise is muffled by the wig somewhat, but it's not ideal; they probably have a headache or something if they have to be out pretending to be human for too long, at least until they come up with some kind of spray that has the proper consistency to dampen vibrations, but not /too/ much, through the hair.  
-also like. the fact that they're in a wheel/hoverchair rather than being able to fuckin, scuttle around like usual. They can /fly/, sure, but it's probably not like they have the same fine level of control-unless they do the 'controlled by their nervous system' thing like with the vines. Probably this is a feature that comes /later/, if it comes at all. (They probably don't think it up on their own. it would be funny if Apollo made a comment about it and they did it, and then Apollo was like 'fuck, i just improved my enemy. goddammit.') [Also present in 'How does the alien disguise themself?']

  
maybe Sooks would naturally spend a lot of time in physical inactivity (or like, not high-intensity activity - they might be walking around and visiting people or something, but not running marathons or whatever)  
-does Ial find humans' whole 'pursuit predation' thing terrifying. i bet Sooks don't do that. aifjoaewifj  
Apollo's not /keeping up/ but they keep /tracking them down/ and Ial has a POWER suit on, shouldn't the human be tired by now?? /Ial/ is getting frazzled and they haven't even been mostly exhausting their /body's/ energy. what the hell are humans??

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*Plot stuff that needs a home

Falling in with natives -the way I'm planning for I'el to do, basically- can happen, but usually people have a team with them to socialize with //so this doesn't happen//.   
-there's no way they're gonna be in trouble for getting attached to someone on this backwater planet because the Khaa'sookian need for social contact is extremely well documented and they're gonna feel too bad this happened in the first fucking place to even /think/ about -what? punishing them for socializing with the only people, sans TAIs, within lightyears?  
-Also, I feel like falling in with natives happening presents a case for isolating a planet instead of Killing Everyone On It because like, if /one/ or more Sook found people they care about there, 1) there would be a revolt if they destroyed the place. so there's that. and 2) there's something good enough in the people there that /their/ people bonded with them. So maybe they have /potential/. or whatever.  
-it's probably still a big dang deal to put a notably hostile planet forward for non-destruction because you caught /feelings/ for its inhabitants. 

  
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*What are some funky things the alien can do that humans can't?  
Telepathy? Breathing underwater? Incredible strength and speed?  
Kiiiind of circular breathing? They can be p much self-sustaining for air if they get the mix of plant/animal and physical activity right.   
-And, yes, they /can/ breathe underwater, but I think it makes them a little loopy? Just. A bit lightheaded. eheheh.

  
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*Basic 'alien' archetype of the species?  
Meat-eating predators, fast and vicious and excellent hunters? (Generally low intelligence+/wisdom.)  
Erudite, technology-oriented? (Cons dump stat, Dex varies. So does char+wisdom.)  
Beyond Mortal Ken - a fucking pain to write, that's what. Also doesn't fit into the story I want. No all-knowing, ageless space horrors here. At least not as the main character.  
Not Exactly Organic - Gaseous, metallic, etc; not what humans would expect - or possibly even recognize - as life.   
They don't necessarily /fit/ into one that I'm aware of?   
Falls under 'not what they seem' pretty well; they look a lot like bugs, but they're actually closer to being plant-reptile things. The bugliness is (mostly) camoflauge.  
Fucked-up foodchain - technically, they're /kind of/ hunters? But they don't eat MEAT, so.... 

  
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*Yosun's day-to-day life before and after Ial arrives  
-What are Yosun’s hobbies besides stalking an alien?-they probably like to run or smth.-they’re not trained in martial arts, that would be WAY too cool for this character  
This isn't Yosun's hometown, is it?  
-aisjoisjs what if they moved away because they have a Big Family that lives in one place and it's not like they HATE their family but having so many in one place is overwhelming and unpleasant. they moved to get a bit of distance.  
-they live in a not-super-busy town, but probably still in an apartment, bc they're that sort-of contradictory person; they like the distance living close to a lot of people gives you. People in apartments mind their own business, I assume. 

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*What's the alien's base like?

-Ial probably lives riiight in the woods, at like. The very edge of town. They're at the end of a long driveway or smth to get to their house, though, so they have LOTS of privacy. but, the town is close enough that getting supplies or whatever isn't a hassle.  
-My thought is they live near to the edge of a not-too-busy town, which just so happens to be where Apollo lives because of Reasons. (It's a smallish town.)  
-Small town shenanigans?  
  
Their security at first is shiiiiiiiiit. Or, at least; it's not good enough to keep Yosun out.   
Possible reasons for this  
-they weren't adequately equipped for this mission, so they had to improvise a lot  
-they weren't TRAINED for the security junk-that wasn't their /job/-so they didn't exactly set it up great. They're a scientist, okay? not a security guard.  
-they just really, really underestimated humans (unlikely. not even low wisdom, just full stupid.)  
-The security measures just don't /work/ on humans. They're designed for other species and humans don't meet 'threat' criteria by the computer, aren't susceptible to those kind of traps, etc.  
-shit keeps malfunctioning for various reasons.  
Primarily 'not trained' with a dash of 'measures not designed for humans/Earth', and a good helping of 'shit malfunctioning', because /this stuff was not designed for Earth./  
-they were. distracted. also to be fair basically /no one else/ bothered to try breaking in-just Yosun, who's kind of nuts.

-anything incriminating is probably underground; Sooks are a semi-subterranean species /anyway/. Being underground instinctively makes them feel safer, probably. (Of course, they would also have a compulsion to venture aboveground for sunlight at least every once in a while even if they're getting enough light, probably. Instincts can be irritating.)  
-top floor/house is a cabin. yup. or I guess 'lodge' might be more accurate-there are two floors, and it's not a /tiny/ place. The very woodsy exterior (and parts of the interior) are nicely at odds with the advanced technology interspersed with absolutely no sense of blending.   
Comf furniture that may or may not be applicable to Sooks.  
-Somewhere underground there's a really extensive lab. There's probably also whatever other shit was sent with them to conquer the planet.... (They probably-mostly-maybe leave that stuff alone. Generally.)  
-There are sun-chambers aboveground and belowground; belowground is one for sleeping. Aboveground is probably more for hanging out

There are probably a fair amount of sound-absorption techniques going on; textured walls and fixtures and the like. Wall hangings. Stuff to make it quieter bc they do /not/ need sound bouncing at them like mad. 

Parts of an invasion base: It probably varies by the base-individuals can customize them-but generally speaking, they will include these parts.  
-the 'this is totally a normal settlement/hill/other unremarkable feature of this planet and not an alien base' level.  
Some places, for example, wouldn't have multiple people living in the same place, so it might make more sense to pretend it's not even a dwelling- make an artificial hill or smth for the upper layer(s), and do the rest underground.   
-Labs. Well-stocked with equipment and presumably materials.   
-Resting quarters. possibly includes sunlight pods for during resting. Sooks probably rest nude so they can get that good light. I kind of doubt they have a nudity taboo, or at least not as strong of one as humans do.  
-At least one comfort-relaxation room; has numerous places with sunlamps, and the main lights have a sun lamp setting that can be put on if desired. This is where people chill and hang out with each other in a /low key/ way, generally. It's basically a big bedroom but not for sleeping in.  
-At least one multi-purpose activity room, for more high-energy interactions.  
-Armory / storage for weapons of mass destruction or whatever the fuck

  
Instead of steel, Sook labs are probably made up of a brass or copper (or other self-cleaning) mixture, because. Cleanliness obviously takes priority over fucking AESTHETIC, what is wrong with humans? (It's quite possible they have another metal/alloy that doesn't oxidize like brass that they use. Maybe it's smth they mix /in/ with the brass?)

  
-what are the security measure of I'al's base like?  
-The standard lasers n junk, presumably, but I also want there to be funky creative stuff. Funny things. Swarms of killer bees? Weird hybrid experiment creatures (as the series progresses)? (Maybe I could throw in a nod to Ada's story, where the critters are controlled by the androids through genetic manipulation n junk.)   
-would also be really funny if at some point I'al hired a human security team to keep Apollo out. so, so fucking funny. It's incredibly ironic. I'al is like 'the best person to keep a human out is! humans! /they know how they think//.'   
-Apollo is like, desperately trying to convince these people that the person they're working for is an alien  
-I could do an Insecurity Guards crossover  
-i was just thinking about how I could put in a nod to my Androids series by using hybridized animals w/ basically genetic manipulation to make them useful  
-I could make the whole fucking thing ostensibly (but not actually) one universe  
-With Ada's universe, maybe it could be like. I'al leaving behind the tech required to make TAIs or smth and humans use it which is how the androids are created in the first place.

  
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*How does the alien disguise themself?  
-Really Shitty Human Disguise That Almost Everyone Buys (provides comedy when someone goes 'hey....wait a minute' and nemesis holds their breath, an then the person in question is like 'your shirt still has the tag on it! Here, let me get that for you.') This could happen later on and be really, really funny.   
-Sometimes they'll send Irene in their stead-usually for groceries or whatever.   
Primarily, through taking advantage of humans either not giving a fuck or being oblivious. Or both.  
-They hide their legs by using an electric wheelchair. (It may or may not be a hoverchair, but Irene probably convinces them that would attract too much attention, so they get aggravated a lot by lack of accessibility. On the other hand, then they might have to come up with reasons they can't ever leave their chair.)  
-Their arms are 'prosthetics'; they don't have natural human arms because [reason]. Born without, there was an accident (maybe the same accident that paralyzed their legs,) etc.   
-Their skin they could either use a hologram for or say they were a designer baby and their parents had interesting tastes ('they couldn't agree on an eyecolor. It was a compromise.')   
-Their antennae are wrapped around their head to look like an afro, except they /really don't/. (Hair! doesn't work like that!) Any time the nemesis points this out, though, they get called culturally insensitive. It's pretty funny.  
-The teeth are 'they had a rough childhood'. 'Not everyone can afford braces, Apollo.'  
-Hologram over their false eyes, and googly eyes or goggles over where human eyes would be.  
Options

-Holograms +/ hardlight projection.  
Maybe they don't come into contact with other humans besides nemsis in person a lot? They could live somewhere isolated+send out a human bot to do shit, I guess? (android could have limited capabilities, would also make /actual/ face-to-face meetings a lot more intense bc of the rarity. Probably the android would have to be nerfed in some way though, or the alien not great at using it, because otherwise human would never see them face-to-face/be able to disable it. Also I don't want an Armchair Alien just sitting there all the time.)   
Fuck, maybe the alien's a scientist and spends a lot of time in the lab engineering shit? 

Shit that's part of Ial's disguise:  
-/numerous/ disabilities.  
-They're blind.  
-They wear big fucking goggle things either because supposably their eyes are really delicate or 'they don't want people to see' (true) which is interpreted as 'my eyes are real fucked up' (false, seeing as they don't /have/ any.) Alternatively, it's taken as a fashion statement.  
-No actual arms???  
-Their weird arm-prosthetics are wicked cool but /not exactly human-looking/?? They can grab stuff and do things like that but typing is probably not hugely a thing.  
-/possibly/ mute? or at least funky voice  
-wheelchair-bound. It would probably be easiest to say that they just don't have natural limbs.   
-also they have giganticism, probably.   
-ALSO also they're a designer baby.  
-were they supposably in an accident or was the baby-designer just shit. discount baby designer. //discount baby designer//  
-fucked up teeth+possibly mandibles are 'I had a rough childhood' 'not everyone can afford braces, //Apollo//'  
-oh my gods the shit Apollo would get from yelling at them. 

-when they have to pretend to be human, Apollo has huge advantages   
-but they also look like an asshole for fighting with a disabled person, generally. (Is this an ableist point of view? Have to frame the joke carefully and make sure it isn't.)  
Advantages (or Ial's disadvantages):  
-they have to be careful not to let on that they have weapons on them /all the time/, because, you know. Humans aren't /wild/ about that.   
-This doesn't mean that said humans aren't sometimes hilariously oblivious to them having weapons, to Apollo's /incredible consternation/.   
-same with alien tech - nanite-shapeshifting-tools would probably be over the top, disguise-wise, combined with everything else. There /are/ limits. Probably.  
-they actually /do/ kind of have a hard time 'seeing' with their antennae hidden in a wig or whatever, so they can't /orient/ them.  
-In some circumstances they have to /pretend/ to be full-on blind, too.  
-Earth is fucking /loud/. So there's that. The noise is muffled by the wig somewhat, but it's not ideal; they probably have a headache or something if they have to be out pretending to be human for too long, at least until they come up with some kind of spray that has the proper consistency to dampen vibrations, but not /too/ much, through the hair.  
-also like. the fact that they're in a wheel/hoverchair rather than being able to fuckin, scuttle around like usual. They can /fly/, sure, but it's probably not like they have the same fine level of control-unless they do the 'controlled by their nervous system' thing like with the vines. Probably this is a feature that comes /later/, if it comes at all. (They probably don't think it up on their own. it would be funny if Apollo made a comment about it and they did it, and then Apollo was like 'fuck, i just improved my enemy. goddammit.') 

###########################################  
###########################################

##################################################  
##################################################

*How do their interactions/fights go? How does Apollo keep from getting fucking /splattered/?  
Apollo either takes advantage of the fact that the two of them are around other people/the chances that someone will realize it was Ial that injured or killed them in these circumstances will keep them from /doing/ it. So plenty of their interaction in these cases aren't-/fighting/, exactly, or at least not with the intent to kill (fighting over an object, for example, is different)^1. Doesn't mean they aren't keeping a real close eye on each other, or whatever.   
The times when Ial /does/ have plausible deniability-when Apollo's at their base, for example, or they're on a goddamn deserted island or whatever-Apollo mostly /takes fucking cover/.  
-a fair number of their gadgets are probably things to slow Ial down - glue traps, nets, etc. Because that fucker is //fast//.   
-Vents are great. Ial's vents are pretty damn huge because Science Requires Ventilation, and Apollo takes advantage of this at least once. Instead of like, reworking their base once they find out about it Ial probably puts locks or booby-traps them or something. which is a pain in the ass, when you're in a crunch for time, but that's what bolt cutters are for.  
-Apollo //absol-fucking-lutely// steals shit from Ial whenever possible and reverse-engineers whatever tech they can.^2  
-Ial mostly views them as a nuisance rather than a genuine threat at first, and doesn't start taking dire precautions until it's pretty much too late-by that point, Apollo's figured out how to survive most of the shit they can throw at them, and stolen, reverse-engineered, and or innovated enough gadgets and tech to at least not end up as a smear on the wall.  
-A lot of their defense/offense is tech-based.   
-Certain frequencies+pitches are uncomfortable or even painful for Ial; noise-making cubes/objects are probably a common tool.   
-Force-field? Limited uses; it's a prototype, and probably eats a lot of energy.  
  
-Once they've been fighting Ial for at least a bit, they manage to get the materials/design a blueprint for an exo-suit kinda thing, to make them stronger. (They have to use /alien/ tech for it, obvs, bc anything human would probably be. Way too big and bulky.) Also has the benefit of much better shock absorption than their plain old 'armor', because that shit has to be FLEXIBLE instead of hard and there's only so much you can do with that. (Cushions, I guess.)   
-I....do not know how mechanics work. And it's literally a fucking. Alien tech thing. So I'm gonna fucking Go All Out for the godsdamned aesthetic and just make some cool brace-frame things and say those are How They Do The Strength 'n shit.   
-They run around their arms, torso, legs (and yes, hands)   
-Technically these seem to be called' exoskeleton suits' and apparently they ARE a thing. AKA: Power armors, powered armors, powered suits, exoframes, hardsuits, or exosuits.   
\--They do show up in sci-fi movies, but apparently are also used in the case of prosthetic limb replacement and military....junk. So soldiers can carry more shit and go farther, n such.  
  
Exo-suit requirements (mine OR in-world):  
-It has to look cool   
-it can't be obtrusive/has to be wearable...without looking like they're in a fucking. mech. they can turn heads but it can't look like they're /literally/ going off to war-should pass as cosplay or smth.  
-Has to have minimal loss of dexterity-they need to be flexible and fast, still. It should probably also be lightweight.   
-Fighting. Still. Has. to. be. cool.

What do I want it to look like?  
-kind of a wiry....frame. Preferably with some cool patterning and junk. I figure it can make up surface area in static zones of the body-IE, back of the hands, shinbone, etc. Areas that aren't going to restrict movement+also don't 

  
^1 fighting for an object neither wants the other to have, but not being able to /harm/ the other because then they can point and say 'look what they did'. Apollo doesn't have to worry about this as much, because Ial is an alien and isn't exactly going to want to submit to a physical or go through the process of pressing charges.  
Theoretically, Ial could hack the system even if Apollo /did/ press charges and say they were dropped or there'd been a hearing and they'd been found innocent, but they have way too low wisdom for that to /occur/ to them.  
^2 Ial may or may not notice their shit disappearing after Apollo comes by, and set out trapped tech for them sometimes.   
Alternatives:  
-They COULD just think they're messy af, I guess.  
-Ka'reen could tell them it was Apollo and Ial would be like 'NONSENSE!! THEY AREN'T INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT ANY OF THIS DOES, OR STEAL IT' while Ka'reen just sighs.

-Ial probably recieved /some/ survival / military training just because they were going off-world to take over a planet; they might be a scientist but that doesn't mean they're supposed to be /helpless/. Plus, it's probably less 'designated soldiers and designated scientists' and more of a...mix? They really don't want anyone to be helpless, and while they might have SOME dedicated security personell, I think they mostly want flexibility, because this is an intrinsically uncertain situation and necessitating rigidity in foreign, dangerous territory is kind of a recipe for disaster.

  
################################################  
################################################  
*Quantum instability - how it works  
-@Principles  
-@Laws vs Principles vs Theories (research)  
-@Misc

===  
@Principles  
\------  
Separation of Alternate Life Trajectories Theory, or SALT:  
-The 'lives' of persons or objects do not have to conform absolutely with those of their Alternates, though strong similarities tend to be present.  
-See: The Peanut Butter Principle  
-See: HAM (Historical Actuality Movement)  
-See: Conservation of Differences

(example?)  
1\. 'Injury to me, not to you';  
\- Injuries do not transfer between Alternates. It's possible for them to be injured in the same manner, or sick at the same time, but exact replication is unlikely, or at least /not a requirement/ (even with Conservation of Differences in play) due to differences between Alternates and their Inactive-Simulated timelines. 

  
\------  
-Conservation of Differences, or COD:  
When something /can/ go the same, even if it is improbable, it will, so long as it does not contradict other stated Laws, Principles, and Theories.   
This can be funny, such as freak gusts of wind and strange feats of physics, sudden muscle spasms, etc. If chance can even the playing field, expect it to.  
-Eg: Conversations can take many turns. Even if the exact subject is not possible, if A spoke to C about something traumatic, B is likely to remember speaking to C and/or D about something similar - an emotional wound, or perhaps baring some other vulnerability.

\-----  
-The Peanut Butter Principle: 

Option A:  
1\. People will act within the bounds of their circumstances (personalities, experiences, genetics, etc) even if those circumstances differ from those of their Alternate.   
-Example of personality: Inventor doesn't typically hurt people they can see, even if they might brew up a contagion. Sharp, on the other hand, has less compunction.  
2\. In the instance of one Alternate(A) doing something the other(B) would not, when B is active the timeline will reflect these changes, as will B's memories. The same is true in reverse. (Does this intersect with HAM?)

Option B:  
1\. The Active Alternate determines the course of events.  
2\. There is an exemption to harm that would normally occur to the Inactive Alternate in cases where the Active Alternate undertakes some activity that is not harmful to them (such as consuming a peanut butter sandwich) but would be to their Inactive Alternate.  
-The harm just skips over the Inactive Party cartoon-style, without in-world explanation.   
-aka 'I stopped being allergic to peanut butter sandwiches for a little while i guess, whack.' (Except I haven't yet decided whether anyone in-universe notices or not. Maybe it goes by whatever is funnier at the time, or who's involved.)  
-Does the harm just skip over them cartoon-style, or is reality altered for those particular instances (a la eating history declaring that a sunflower-butter sandwich was eaten when the allergic party is active?)

  
Could it go back and forth?

\------  
The Historical Actuality Movement Principle, or HAM:  
[alternative names: Current Actuality = History? The Principle of Subjective History? The Principle of Actuality-based History, 'Manipulation' instead of 'Movement'.]  
-possibly a theory rather than a principle?  
  
1\. Reality changes when Shifts do. When a Shift changes, the history of the world changes to match that Shift.   
  
2\. Current Actuality Equals Memory (with room for subjective interpretation.) In other words, when reality changes (typically due to a Shift happening,) memories will be updated to reflect the current reality, including backdating. Memory is 'updated' every time a Shift occurs.  
-EG: Ginger was raised by their parents (for longer), who are alive. ND was raised by their Aunts, and their parents are dead.   
In a Shift where ND is Active, their parents have been dead since they were a child (despite the fact that when Ginger is Active, their Alternate selves are alive.)   
In a Shift where Ginger is Active, their parents have never been dead. (They may have been raised by their Aunts, however.)   
3\. A Shift changing can have a ripple effect on history that reaches far beyond that Shift.   
-EG: Shift 1 switching from Side A to Side B will quite possibly also affect Shift 2, 3, etc., regardless of which 'side' is currently Active for those Shifts.  
-EG: Take the Peanut Butter Principle as an example, where a different kind of sandwich is consumed.   
This would mean that a different sandwich had first been /made/, requiring different materials (in this case, sunbutter rather than pb,) which would have necessitated picking up a different bottle that may be in a different /place/ than the peanut butter, as well as a different /price/. It may even require going to a specialty store, or ordering it online.   
Events may have gone differently because of this change - bumping into someone they hadn't before, or possibly even just not being able to have a butter sandwich that day! maybe they had turkey instead.   
It should be noted, however, that Conservation of Differences will attempt to minimize these changes. 

===  
@Laws vs Principles vs Theories (research)

  
Theory:

-theories are collections of concepts, laws and ideas to explain observations of the universe.   
-The theory of evolution and the the general theory of relativity describe how species have changed over generations and how massive objects distort space-time through gravity, respectively.  
-based on hypotheses  
-a scientific theory is an explanation of the observed phenomenon (while a scientific law is a description of an observed phenomenon.)

  
\------  
Law:

\- Laws belong to classical physics (mechanics and electromagnetics).   
-Laws are expressed in quantitative mathematical formulas.   
-Laws are statements about physical reality (which may or may not be true).  
-Laws relate to physical reality and require justification.  
-A law may be viewed with admiration.   
-Laws are deduced through lots of observations and accounting for various possibilities of competing hypotheses.   
-They don't explain a mechanism by which a phenomena occurs, but, rather, describe these numerous observations.  
-Laws are applied to all objects regardless of scenario but they are only meaningful within certain contexts.  
-based on hypothesis(ses?)  
-Law: Description of an observed phenomenon (as opposed to theory, which is explanation of the observed phenomenon.)  
-Describes a relationship between two quantities that never changes  
-For example Newton’s second law describes the relationship between forces and acceleration. This relationship is always the same regardless of what kind of force is involved or what kind of acceleration is produced as a result.

  
Examples: 

-Newton's Second Law - F = ma lets you determine the acceleration or mass from this net force for these objects.. fundamental feature of physical phemonena.

\------  
Principle:

\- Principles belong to modern physics.  
-Principles are expressed in words.  
\- Principles express stipulations which are to be respected by physicists, which are not statements about physical reality which can be true or false, but definitions which are true by construction.   
\- Principles are man-made and need no justification.  
\- A principle should be viewed with critical suspicion.  
-Something you have to apply to the problem; not an equation.  
-Describes a relationship between two quantities; while always true, this relationship is subject to changes if the conditions of the quantities that are related change.   
-For example Archimedes’ Principle describes the relationship between buoyant forces and fluids but the exact nature of that relationship depends on the particular fluid, the properties of the object in the fluid, the pressure exerted upon the fluid, and so on.

Examples: Fermat's principle, principle of conservation of energy

===  
@Misc

  
-possibility of people and places being in different Shifts?  
-kid of want the office workers to be in a different Shift than I'el and Yosun.  
-Also thinking the town/city should be in a different Shift from Yosun...?   
As for the TAIs, maybe what Shift they're on depends on what region of space they were in when they were made...? or smth? who mcfuckin knows.   
-considering having Irisene on the same Shift as I'el, though technically if it's by 'region of space' then it should /probably/ be Ship, unless the lines of where things end is woobly in a sort of /diagonal/ way.  
How do you know when to Shift? (By whenever it's funniest, probably. Or sometimes just randomly, or to make up for time.) 

So, I need a chart or smth to keep track of who/what is on which Shift.

One possibility is that related people would switch with each other, but that also begs the question of how far 'apart' you have to be before you stop being /counted/ as related.   
There's also the fact that people aren't always raised by their blood family, which throws in a wrench.  
So, this is probably not the main factor - maybe it's a /result/ of another factor - physical proximity at birth, or something? Maybe which universe your molecules originate from...? (Or, since a blend is likely, the /ratio/? ooo. Maybe different ratios indicate when switching happens - blood family is reasonably likely to have similar ratios, possibly - blood siblings maybe having the most? Though we change molecules by the food we eat....so wouldn't people always be fluctuating in their ratios? Hmm. That would end up being very chaotic.)

Localized memories are a possibility - IE, depending on which timeline you're in your memories are different - but I don't like that. For one thing, POC have different experiences than white people; it doesn't make sense to just mesh ND and Ginger's memories, and this is only one small, obvious problem with that. 

How does memory selection work?

Is the 'inactive' version actually active, just...somewhere else? in the 'other' timeline, or possibly in this one with just nudges here and there?  
-I want to say things are the same and memories are. like that. because I want Yosun and Ginger to ostensibly have the same experiences with I'el, right? but then you run into the problem of the Dead Parents, and the only way I see to reconcile that is if there /were/ different, unmeshed timelines at one point and then they combined and NOW it's all running similarly/meshed.   
  
If someone gets injured, does their alternate?   
-If one version is allergic to peanut butter and dies of anaphylactic shock, what happens to their alternate? Do they die from something else? Do they just keep living?  
-On that note, if one's having a peanut butter sandwich and they swap in in the middle of eating it, what happens? Obviously Allergic person wouldn't have been eating that, they'd die! Do they swap in with something like a bologna sandwich instead?  
-That would be historical revision to a degree, wouldn't it? And if so-then how /far/ does such a thing go? What causes revision and what's the cutoff? What /won't/ be changed?  
  
  
I don't know about having them be active in a 'Side B' timeline - it's a cool idea, but I think it would make things exceptionally complicated in a way I'm trying to avoid.  
I think maybe....the side we see is the 'active' side, what's happening, and then when a switch occurs, history attempts to be the same, but in some cases /can't/ because it wouldn't make sense - like in the peanut butter example. so things just change. Yes, they were eating peanut butter before. they aren't now, though! (The peanut butter is still missing from the jar, as is the bread; maybe the bologne sandwich came from the inactive side, in reality's attempt to heal itself.  
And people's minds just smooth over this, because things like this happen all the time and if they focused on all of them they'd go /insane./   
Then you get people who notice some of them and start 'we're in the Matrix' threads....(of course, once you start /looking/, you might start noticing. And once you start noticing it's hard to stop, especially when you don't want to. And humans weren't made for that kind of inconsistency, really, which makes you paranoid and confused and illogical....In other words, conspiracy theorists tend to be people who looked too far into the void and got all twisted around themselves.))

reconciling DDead Parents dif with Consisten Memories with I'el - I'el and Yosun are on different Shifts/Shift patterns, but Yosun and their parents are on the same one.   
Yosun might have to 'fill in the blank' with I'el, because they're on different Shift Patterns, but they /don't/with their parents- Ginger's parents are always alive, and ND's parents are always dead.  
And unlike people with dead alternates, Ginger and ND have /living/ alternates for them to fill in the blank time they were Inactive for - albiet, the memories might be blurry/vague, or somewhat /altered/, esp in the case of Peanut Butter Sandwich scenarios - times in which they would have acted very differently.   
However, Conservation Of Differences (or basically, the two timelines trying to merge and be the same) means that probability is more than a little fucked, so when alternates /might/ act in the same way in a certain situation, they usually will, if 'history' is being generated for them from an Inactive period.   
-(Which isn't to say this happens at the beginning of every time they're active, though the buffering that would cause could be entertaining. Presumably, it happens as events do, with their 'memories' present and coming into play when they become Active.)  
-An example of this is conversations; if they might have started talking about wine or their dead parents, and their alternate was talking about wine (or something similarly not Emotional,) they'll remember (vaguely) talking about wine.  
Similarly, ND might have talked about their dead parents in an emotional scene; this isn't applicable to Ginger, as their parents are alive, so they may have spoken instead about something else emotional (and preferably related to the subject at hand); in this case, most likely their traumatic upbringing.   
Since they won't have ACTUALLY talked about it, though(?), their memories will probably be vague? maybe? hmmm. I suppose the other part will also have to remember the conversation in some manner- so it isn't ENTIRELY subjective reality. Perhaps both of them would remember it vaguely unless the specific parties in question (IE, ND and Inventor) were the ones present?  
They can't remember it /differently/. 

  
How do the dead parents work? Their /lives/?   
-In one shift they're in the grave and in the next they presumably have jobs and families and the like.  
-one poss is that the 'living' versions would just take over permanently, but no.   
-when they're dead, people are sad and mourn (until they get past their grief or wtvr, then they're just like 'oh, they're dead.) when they're alive, people just forget/skip over the parts where they were dead. might make their jobs tricky...? (then again, different vs might have dif jobs, too.)  
basically, the people around them fill in the blanks mentally, with static.   
The same probably happens for the people with dead alternates, because they're not /doing/ anything - their brains just skip past those periods of time. Maybe they 'get things done' as if they had actually spent time there, or maybe they're 'behind' the rest of the world because of the disadvantage of dead alternates.

idea: people and objects being technically 'from' one or the other universe?

  
Yosun is afraid of Sharp.  
Are they afraid of Inventor?

  
-I have to figure out how the fuck to reconcile different events in different 'timelines'  
-The PB Principle covers at least part of this.

-ND Yosun is at their parents' graves, right. as you do.  
-and then a Shift happens and suddenly they're Ginger  
-/why/ are they in this graveyard. (are Alternates always where the other was?)   
-I could've switched out other people in their family being dead, but they're so maladjusted and Dramatic(TM) I half-figure, maybe Ginger just hangs out in graveyards sometimes??  
-the most emo-goth punk.  
-'yeah, okay, their (Gingers') relationship with their parents was shit, they definitely keep grudges and shit,'  
'so, sometimes Ginger comes to the graveyard and picks two random graves and imagines what would have happened if their parents had died'

[9:34 PM] randompersyn:  
so, I'm trying to figure out what happens when someone switches 'in', like.  
[9:34 PM] randompersyn:  
Whose memories do they have? Is it a mix?  
[9:34 PM] randompersyn:  
Did they....live out the same stuff in a /different/ timeline, or is one version of this reality all that's active at a time?  
[9:35 PM] randompersyn:  
I mean, I already have crazy shit like people being dead in one timeline and alive in another  
[9:35 PM] randompersyn:  
so how am I supposed to RECONCILE those memories??  
[9:35 PM] randompersyn:  
especially in an ever0shifting world??  
[9:36 PM] randompersyn:  
My best (partial) solution at the moment is just that Shifts (which needs a better name.) happen in....sections?  
[9:37 PM] randompersyn:  
like, if Yosun switches 'tracks', so does at least part of their family, because otherwise how would that /work/.  
[9:37 PM] chaoticstupid:  
==>  
[9:38 PM] randompersyn:  
yes, thank. honestly, it's a bit of a bandaid solution  
[9:38 PM] randompersyn:  
because like....how do you know where that particular Phase /stops/?  
[9:38 PM] randompersyn:  
Does it end with their parents? Their aunts, cousins? Are their /houses/ affected?  
[9:39 PM] chaoticstupid:  
That is difficult  
[9:39 PM] randompersyn:  
yyyyup  
[9:39 PM] randompersyn:  
I'm tempted to make it a free-for-all chaos....  
[9:39 PM] randompersyn:  
you remember what's /there/, because it's ALWAYS been there.  
[9:39 PM] randompersyn:  
of course it has. don't you remember?  
[9:40 PM] randompersyn:  
kind of a la the second floor in that one Doctor Who episode  
[9:40 PM] randompersyn:  
that never actually existed, it was a spaceship looking for a pilot and it had chameleon'd itself with a perception filter.  
[9:42 PM] randompersyn:  
it is just. a /real/ challenge, but I KNOW whatever I come up with is going to be /insane/ and FANTASTIC  
[9:42 PM] randompersyn:  
.....it just also requires a lot of slamming blocks together in different configurations to find the right one.  
[9:43 PM] chaoticstupid:  
Oh absolutely  
[9:43 PM] randompersyn:  
yesssss

  
example:

[10:26 PM] randompersyn:  
okay but, i have this 'Deserted Island' episode, of course  
[10:27 PM] randompersyn:  
because you have to.  
[10:27 PM] randompersyn:  
and I was thinking about how I'm kind of making ND Baby and Ginger Bastard  
[10:27 PM] randompersyn:  
and while I love that, ND can't just be Perfect uwu  
[10:28 PM] randompersyn:  
.....one of their unfavorable traits is impulsiveness.  
[10:29 PM] randompersyn:  
so, I think /Ginger/ goes to take out their frustration on their nemesis, and switches to ND who's just like, 'eh, while I'm here! might as well!' and stows away on I'el's ship when they leave  
[10:29 PM] randompersyn:  
......also possibly the one who panicked and blew up the communication tower because they got caught  
[10:30 PM] randompersyn:  
and didn't know what it was.

  
#################################################################  
*/Why/ is I'el trying to conquer or destroy Earth?

-the TAIs must've redirected them; without their (painstaking) intervention, they probably would've spent the rest of their days tinkering around in the lab, descending further into their mind and madness because they wouldn't be /recovering/ (lack of interaction with other people; the TAIs are only so many people, and they have their OWN shit to do, trying to set up a way to send an SOS that will reach someone who can /do/ something about it. ...and not be visible/detectable to the humans, probably.) 

  
###############################################################################  
*How does a typical invasion/scouting/whatever mission go?

-Ial probably recieved /some/ survival / military training just because they were going off-world to take over a planet; they might be a scientist but that doesn't mean they're supposed to be /helpless/.   
-It's probably less 'designated soldiers and designated scientists' and more of a...mix? They really don't want anyone to be helpless, and while they might have SOME dedicated security personel, I think they mostly want flexibility, because this is an intrinsically uncertain situation and necessitating rigidity in foreign, dangerous territory is kind of a recipe for disaster.  
-Consequently-people who are primarily scientists still recieve military training (and ABSOLUTELY survival training, probably designed specifically for the world they're on once enough information is accumulated.)

-The firstish stage is preliminary information-gathering.   
-Is the atmosphere breathable, what are the people (very basically) like, both as a society and, like, /physically/.   
-Depending on the level and /type/ of technology of the society, a lot of this can be done by basically doing the intergalactic equivalent of hacking their wifi, preferably from off-planet. (Sometimes it /does/ require sending a relay or wtvr somewhere remote on-planet, though.) The main thing at this stage is avoiding detection and conflict.  
-A lot of the early research tends to be gathered with mechanical assisstance; there's, uh, only so much you can do about making yourself believably seem like a native species without /surgery/ or something, and that's without taking into account that a fair number of species AREN'T sight-based, and will use entirely different metrics to go 'oh, hey, an ali-AN ALIEN WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK'.  
Plus there's social cues, general communication (eg language), and so on.  
Robits can be made to look like just about anything with enough work, and custom-creating suitable chasises for them to fit in is considered an integral part of the mission.

-See 'Falling in with natives' under '*Plot stuff that needs a home' for the reaction to, well, that. 

################################################  
################################################ 

*Character overviews-personality, motivation, (brief) backstory.   
Index:  
@ 1. Yosun Apollo Helix  
@ 2. I'el (insert long alien name here)  
@ 3. The TAIs (I'el's fam)   
@ Other questions to integrate/organize  
-*What personality traits does Apollo possess? How do they develop as the series goes on?  
-*Ial's personality-and that of the rest of the main cast.  
-*What is Yosun doing before Ial comes along? What's their life like?  
-*How does the human support themself?  
-*Who's in the human's life?  
===  
  
@ 1. Yosun Apollo Helix  
Probably wasn't all that interested in the paranormal before I'el arrived. Only /became/ interested because I'el minorly inconvenienced/insulted them and obviously this means Revenge. (which naturally led to uncovering that they were an alien. .(....because the TAIs let it happen.))

===

@ 2. I'el (insert long alien name here)  
Motivation  
-I’al has been alone and is probs afraid of being alone again, (which you’d think would preclude doomsday devices) but when ur out of your mind you aren’t necessarily /logical/.   
-obviously can’t show zeir actual motivations to Apollo bc Enemy! but also they probably SHIFT a lot. or the appearance of them does ar least. maybe it’s a shock to the audience that the alien really isn’t just running slipshod-crazy with no aim-or rather, that the TAIs aren’t right behind them, that /they’re/ planning and doing things.

-Live in a blue and orange logic system for at least part of it. 

===

@ 3. The TAIs (I'el's fam) 

-dynamic-wise, I like the idea of the TAIs using Earth as a distraction for I’el. 

-Iris/Irene

-Ship: The house  
-Computer. The most advanced+complicated, /probably/ among the least glitchy TAI. A lot of their attention is focused on running the base (possibly including lab equipment), looking for/working on a way home, strategizing in general, keeping on top of the less fortunate TAI's health issues....etc. Tends to be pretty damn busy.  
\--the saboteur fucked up Ship's coding, but probably did it in a shitty way, because of laziness, incompetence, +/ the need for it to look accidental.  
-Maybe the ship was supposed to kill/let them die (have a ‘malfunction’ in the life support after like eight months or smth.)  
-and of course there were contingencies- the planned cryopod failure was one of them. Others include: turning off the systems that keep the ship from being hit by space-objects like, y’know, meteors, once it was far enough away from allied space; maybe an eventual reactor meltdown? But maybe not, because the fail-safe precautions for that are probably pretty well engrained, so it might be /real/ sus for them to fail.  
-Psychologically, Ship was being used as a murder weapon. This is also contrary to their original primary purpose-to keep inhabitants /alive/.   
-safety protocols were overridden. You’re supposed to keep enough fuel (or wtvr-rations, yk. necessary space-ship stuff.) on hand to get to the nearest outpost or ally established territory at least twice-over, but the ship is running dangerously low on *insert thing here* and they have to limp their way to the nearest hopefully-habitatable planet possible, to try and set up an outpost with probably the bare minimum of equipment to make things look legitimate if anyone checked, and a rather unorthodox, decidedly-unprepared-for-this crew. some of the  
moral guidelines were hacked to pieces (heh) by saboteur, thus why decidedly immoral behavior. (why didn’t ship go through with it then, though?  
-decided they liked I’el, and were already going against some programming no matter what they did, so they may as well do what they want  
-conflict in programming (from shitty hacking, either due to carelessness (arrogance?) or lack of skill) + /time/ + not going offline and being reset every once in a while bc you need a CREW around to do that^, meaning that a fucking supercomputer that’s designed to self-repair if necessary is going to be running with complex coding that has bugs and contradictions in it, /choices/ that computer has to make.  
Computers generally do not have to make actual choices outside of the parameters they’re given. ‘Choose one of these options’, sure. Randomized selection is a thing. Conflicting orders, though, are probably on a sliiiiiiiightly different level. The computer has to think. The computer has to /change/^2.   
Which means evolution. Which means…..life, eventually.   
-^(an error in the plan-of course people are going to be around to follow that procedure, assumes the attempted murderer’s subconscious, people are ALWAYS around. It would unthinkable for them /not/ to be.)  
-^2 (It also helps that Sookian systems are complex enough that emergent consciousness tends to be a thing for them /anyway/, if they’re left on long enough. Which is why they /aren’t/. Can’t go around creating people willy-nilly. (Intentionally leaving them on and hiring TAIs to work for you and all the civil rights involved- is a whole nother thing, really. Actually the civil rights are pretty good, moral quables about what’s /basically/ intentional, repeated early-stage abortion aside. (The protocols are designed, of course, so that it’s /rather/ early-stage, way before any kind of consciousness could emerge. Probably. Barring random chance, which I guess would have an effect, huh?)  
-possibly I’el contributed to the computer’s survival by fixing coding Ship couldn’t, at the beginning when they were still sane.   
-maybe the computer was lonely. I doubt Sookian systems are designed to function in isolation, either. It might not have as profound an effect as on biological, organic creatures, but….isolation during such a formative, crucial part of development would certainly have some interesting repercussions on an emerging consciousness. Probably went kind of ‘strange’, as some humans would say. (Not exactly suited to socializing, maybe. But craving it all the same. ….not sure if this is an autism metaphor, or a ‘child left alone in a room for years’ one. Maybe both.)  
-Ship comes to care about I'el because they're literally the only other person they've ever /met/ while they were sentient, plus surviving together = bonding. Ship also chose not to kill them despite their programming, and they feel somewhat responsible for this person, so I'el's their organic now.   
-Ship cares about I’el, at the very least, in a self-oriented autistic way; this is their person. They chose them. I don’t think it’s quite as much about the self-oriented, though, at least not like that. I think it’s more like that they care in a deep but less /obvious/ way. Sort of hidden. Not much overt signs of affection, because what’s the point? That’s not what they’re here for. (Ship is very….pragmatic.  
-Ship cares about I’el, at the very least, in a self-oriented autistic way; this is their person. They chose them. I don’t think it’s quite as much about the self-oriented, though, at least not like that. I think it’s more like that they care in a deep but less /obvious/ way. Sort of hidden. Not much overt signs of affection, because what’s the point? That’s not what they’re here for. (Ship is very….pragmatic.  
Ship definitely doesn’t have trouble thinking of themself as a person. Nope. That’s not a thing. And if it was it wouldn’t be an issue, because what does it affect? Certainly not their performance, which is the most important thing. Interpersonal relationships who? How will that help the mission? (The rescue team are fucking upset about I’el, of course. But they’re also godsdamned /horrified/ about what’s happened to Ship. the idea of not being ABLE to understand the value of interpersonal connection-even if it’s because of trauma and not necessarily lack of ability-is just. Incomprehensible. (I’el isn’t the only one who was alone for too, too long.))  
-Maybe Ship’s higher functions got knocked out at some point, or the ability to communicate (wasn’t developed?.....and wouldn’t that be perfectly ironic. Two people, perfectly alone because they //couldn’t talk to each other//. Not in either of their first languages, but on a console, in some butchering in-between. Everyone learns to talk, after all.  
Some people just don’t get that chance.  
And isn’t it lovely, the idea of I’el wandering around muttering to themself, as (so far and so close) Ship watches. Untalking. Unblinking. Neither of them know how to reach out for the other, or-in I’el’s case-possibly even realize the other is /there/.  
-The name ‘Ship’ is probably an imperfect translation. More properly, it’s something closer to ’home’, but without necessarily the warm connotations. ‘Container’, ‘keeper of people’ ‘vessel’. Vessel. Yes, ‘vessel’ would be a better literal translation….but it isn’t warm enough, really. A ship /is/ a home, even if it’s also a way to get from one place to another. (And, in this case, becomes the home that stays, too.)  
-I’m not sure if the other TAIs were on purpose. Maybe they were accidental, sort of, the way Ship was. Or maybe I’el didn’t know Ship was even there, conscious, and was so desperate for company that they started trying to make their own. (Ship didn’t intervene. More people. ….why would they intervene? Does it interfere with the mission? (This is an excuse that will become old. They will continue to use it as if it is new.)) (Also, the answer is ‘yes’. But they’re so alone. Even with another person there. Maybe other, new people will know how to talk better. Will understand what the flickering lights mean. Will know how to make the stupid organic thing EAT, instead of wasting away. Ship has arms, technically; or something one could argue serve the same function. They’re in the robotics bay, the kitchen, etcetera. They’re not designed to restrain and force-feed an organic, because that wasn’t something that was built into the design. That’s the sort of job for other organics, who can try to coax them into eating in the first place with words and body language and other things the AI, who hasn’t named themself yet, doesn’t have. They’re not bitter.  
They don’t know what that is.) 

  
  
-How many TAIs are there?   
-anywhere between four and like...eight and a half. (There are probably some that didn't 'survive', I'm guessing.)

-How exactly did I'el make them? How /many/ did they make? Did some of them not survive? Are any stitched together from the code of their non-functional siblings?

-Is it too overplayed to have them not be super moral? .....I don't really want them to just be 'evil'. I think it's really more about-not even blue and orange morality, it's /ultraviolet and pink/; not immediately visible for human comprehension, utterly alien.   
-AI mentality is often portrayed as being strange and cold and sometimes incomprehensible to humans; the TAIs aren't /just/ AI. They're AI that came from an /alien civilization/. In ADDITION to that, they're AI that were more or less put together by someone who was going fucking nuts-/three things/ that, all on their own, could already drastically alter personality and morals from that of what humans would expect. (....it would be really funny if the TAIs ended up being really human, as a result.)  
-Okay but considering all the varying factors....the TAIs really /shouldn't/ be treated as a homogenous whole. There might even be conflicts of interest. There almost certainly would be differences in morals, and outlook (positivity, optimism vs cynicism, selfishness vs selflessness. just. there's loads of variation in morals and personality for humans. why wouldn't there be, for TAIs? The problem, really, is the //parameters//.)  
-One is a System (in the definition of a body with more tha none personality.) Sort of a Rat King of AI....combined with the concept of Siamese Twins.   
Ideas: Core functions are combined. Much like multiple personalities in one body, only one person can speak/have control at a time, usually. (....I think.) It might be that one is 'awake' while the others are asleep, but I think it makes more sense that they're an attempt to combine multiple broken parts into something cohesive, and so each has their own abilities/responsibilities within the functioning of the whole. (EG, one has the internet connection and part of the chat capabilities. The language+knowledge lexicons are cobbled together. Personality......is, uh, varied.)  
Maybe the TAIs just aren't all /concerned/ with morality. Survival comes first. I'el comes first.  
-Even the ones who really love I'el and want to take care of them wouldn't know what /I'el's/ pre-insanity morals were!  
-Part of the problem here is that I don't have a specific number of people /or/ roles /or/ preferred personalities planned. So I don't have much to go off of.  
-How many TAIs should there be?   
-The behind-the-scenes AI that probably was part of the ship management program.   
-Ka'rheen  
  
===  
  
@ Other questions to integrate/organize  
  
*What personality traits does Apollo possess? How do they develop as the series goes on?  
-What are Apollo's personality flaws? Are they paranoid in the BEGINNING of the story, or is that something that results from them fighting with Ial?  
Anxiety certainly develops as the series progresses. May be present in the beginning, however, to a lesser degree. They probably develop a disorder, though.  
PTSD is a thing. Getting jumpy and hypervigilant.  
Do they have the ADHD/autism thing where emotions are super strong?  
....do they HAVE autism / ADHD? I think it would be boring if they /didn't/. Imagine all the finger-tapping and-oh my gods, how many times do they almost stim with something in Ial's lab bc they stopped paying attention for //one second/// (thankfully the computer has the child safety locks on.....(metaphorically. Sook kids don't. go into dangerous labs, geez.))  
I feel like Apollo is the version of nihilistic that ISN'T 'haha, nothing matters, bro'-IE, vaguely dissatisfied all the time, because what does /literally anything/ /matter/.   
Also a pessimist. Also also has....not great luck. NOT to the point of woobification, but like the universe is pointedly doing the OPPOSITE of whatever will help them in a given scenario. They have the kind of luck where they realize they didn't bring an umbrella today and, from the clear skies, it starts to rain. (Though usually it's probably more to do with their Active Plots. What, you didn't think /Ial/ was the only one who got plots and schemes, did you? Did you think Apollo was just going to be a passive, reactive entity? /No/.)  
-If there's one thing they are not, it's /passive/. ...among all the other things they aren't.   
'the world is out to get them' and it /is/, but in like. a heckling older sibling way. so it's /funny/ rather than pitiful. (MOSTLY.) (At this point, the world itself might become a character....)  
How obsessive? How petty?  
-If they're /too/ obsessive, it affects their ability to do other shit. Like, draw furry porn to keep money in the bank. (What if. What if they coded an algorithm to draw the furry porn. But then they doodle shit that's three times better by hand and no one wants to buy it. /Typical/.) Or....whatever.  
Kind of inconsiderate! Not the type of person who goes out of their way to hold doors open for people or clean the dishes, but not out of any inborn laziness, intentional avoidance, or like. /malice./ (though the last is the most likely to happen, honestly. they ARE petty.) they're just more likely to be zooming on to the next thing and focused in on that, rather than looking behind them to make sure no one else is coming inside after them. so, kind of accidental obliviousness. they come by it honestly.   
-doesn't realize when people like them. possibly low self-esteem

  
===

  
*Ial's personality-and that of the rest of the main cast.

What is Ial willing to do?   
Are they willing to kill? If so, why? Or why not?  
Do they respect the sanctity of life? Do they see humans (and other species) as inherently inferior? (That's kind of Not Great. don't like that. especially in today's climate, that's /way/ too fucking Nazi. just. no. can't have space-Nazis and have them NOT unequivocably be the bad guys.)  
  
  
-What if Apollo is frequently snarky.  
-Ial is /not/ frequently snarky. They're sardonic sometimes, (when someone's being really godsdamned stupid, possibly).  
-Ial sometimes does that cheerfully terrifying evil thing  
-Yosun can be real fucking bitter.

  
Ial  
-polite, considerate. not EXACTLY soft-spoken, but closer to it than /loud/, I think, in general.  
-doesn't realize /how many/ people like them? or do they just have a hard time connecting? oh my gods, i gave them alien autism didn't i  
-might do that thing where the more friendly (though not informally) they speak the more pissed off they are. Probably reflected more in tone than the actual word content.... 

-how often does Ial misinterpret something a human say/does because, hello, literal alien. kinda funny autism parallels there, potentially. esp if/when Ial starts understanding humans better than /Apollo/, and explains what an interaction actually was to them aiforfije

It's kind of funny because a lot of the symptoms of Ial's trauma are....very similar to things Apollo already experiences. Distractibility, no sense of time, intense emotions+moodswings-That's ADHD, Baby!

hey, so, is it just me or does ADHD legitimately have a lot of symptoms that otherwise would occur because of trauma...? have we looked into TREATING ADHD brains like it was a trauma thing?  
I'm not entirely sure how to put it, but I think their attention span is kind of...shorter  
Ial is, by nature, more even-tempered than Apollo.  
At least, they were before the fucking Incident. (They still are, mostly. They just aren't as...steady.) It pretty well knocked their world off its axis.   
They're more distractible-they can easily get pulled away from a task to something else. (Which can be...a little unfortunate when they're in the middle of an experiment or smth. Thankfully distractions from smth volatile only happen once in a while, and the times they forget to take safety precautions, well. Their fam looks out for them for...pretty much exactly this (and other) reasons.)  
They have a tendency to lose track of time-and by 'lose track of', I mean they can be doing something and look up and it's been eighteen hours without any realization that eighteen hours /has/ passed. It happens most often in low-energy-expenditure/low-intensity activities - reading, tinkering with an easy project, etc. (If it /does/ happen in a high-energy one, it seems more likely to be because they're stressed and throwing themself into doing something. They'll almost certainly come out in a bad mood, I feel, unless they're actually ADRESSING what put them in such a state in the first place..)  
I'm not entirely sure how to put it, but I think their attention span is kind of...shorter

Petty vs spiteful  
Ial and Apollo could /both/ be *both* be both.  
I see Ial as being relatively /patient/ with any revenge they take-even if it's a small thing. (/Especially/ if it's a small thing. Hell, maybe it's inversely proportionate-if it's a BIG revenge, they're apt to do it immediately and unsubtly. If it's a little thing, like switching out your yogurt for soap? They'll wait a week, until you've forgotten about the whole thing, and then strike.)  
  
Apollo, on the other hand, rarely has such patience. They can 'wait' if they're /actively doing something/ related to the whole endeavor, but otherwise they're more likely to act too quickly and spoil the whole thing.   
-Do they have a temper? What's their impulse control like?  
-Their impulse control is good....//when they think to check it//. It's even odds they'll bolt off and miss that window. 

  
===

  
*What is Yosun doing before Ial comes along? What's their life like?  
They might've been bored. Or, not necessarily bored, but...in a bit of a rut.   
-Do want to avoid the whole 'romantic partner brings meaning to life that was meaningless before' thing. Meeting one new person should not totally upheave your life? It could be a /catalyst/, but it shouldn't magically fuckign make things better. There are backslides and problems and just because you meet someone you connect with the world doesn't start /working/ for you.  
-They did their furry porn commissions to pay rent, obviously, but that's probably not really a /calling/ so much as something to keep them comfortable financially. (Also, amusingly: they may or may not actually DRAW the stuff. it would be kind of funny if they actually made a program to make art for them or smth. IE what people who don't understand digital art SAY digital art is. On the other hand, them being an artist could be neat.)   
-What are their hobbies?   
-What are they good at?  
-Sticking their foot in their mouth, holding grudges, not being great at emotional communication. (Are Sooks? Is /Ial/? ...hm. Probably once he gets past denial on a subject, but before that, maybe not. On the other hand, v much casually affectionate with the TAI fam. Much platonic cuddling and cheek-kisses and the like.)   
-They're good at hacking shit, and coding, bc that's germane to this particular story and I think it would be funny if they could hack into Ial's base despite being a human. (Some of this is that the base purposefully leaves security holes to make things a 'little' more even for their little game, but shhhhhh)

===

*How does the human support themself?  
-They could live off the alien like a barnacle - steal their shit and pawn it. maybe later on for a little bit, that could b pretty funny.  
-They draw furry porn. This is rarely, if ever, relevant, and is only mentioned once or twice as an answer to how they can spend all their time chasing an alien around.   
-Also has a 'Doctorate in Ass-kicking', we're /pretty sure/ that isn't actually a thing

  
===

*Who's in the human's life?  
-One long-suffering, tired roommate who gives too little of a shit to find somewhere else to live, and a revolving-door of other, secondary roommates who rarely stay longer than a few weeks. They sometimes end up caught between the nemesis (alien probably kidnaps at least one temp-roommate. possibly keeps them. that's THEIR roommate now. ....possibly, the alien kidnaps /primary/ roommate, who's too apathetic to care much, and keeps THEM for a while. alien forgets about them after a while and they just wander back. alien kidnaps them on occasion after that for 'human socializing purposes'. they're not friends, but they're....not, NOT friends..?

===

  
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*How do Sooks interact with other species?

-See 'Falling in with natives' under '*Plot stuff that needs a home' for the reaction to, well, that.

What is Ial willing to do to conquer Earth?   
-That really varies by how out of it they are on a given day, and possibly some other factors? But, uh, a /lot/. On those days.  
Are they willing to kill? If so, why? Or why not?  
-Yup. Consequences don't always exist in their brain-and also, when the world doesn't feel /real/, well.... They're much, much less likely to kill out of anger than pragmatics, it should be noted. They would probably even be polite and mildly apologetic about it, if they were going to murder someone for, y'know, /practicality/ reasons.   
Do they respect the sanctity of life? Do they see humans (and other species) as inherently inferior? (That's kind of Not Great. don't like that. especially in today's climate, that's /way/ too fucking Nazi. just. no. can't have space-Nazis and have them NOT unequivocably be the bad guys.)  
  
Maybe-hm. What if Sooks don't think of themselves as /superior/, what if it's kind of a 'i care about the people i think of as mine, and i don't care about anyone else'-but it's taken to an /extreme/. Considering how big their communities can be, hm. Maybe it's an 'us vs. the world', with 'the world' expanding to /the galaxy/, and 'us' expanding to a few allied races. ....they're naturally a preyed-upon species, they /evolved/ in fear. Pre-emptively offensive? 

-People will do a LOT for a sense of safety. Even more for safety for the people they care about.

What is the theoretical /goal/ for Earth? Or, more broadly, for all planets they conquer?  
-Humans are a war-like race; the primary goal is to neutralize the threat they pose (allying with them would not be a satisfying long-term solution; human history is rife with splintering, breaking into factions, etc. Humans seem to thrive on chaos. Betrayal is very very common; allying with the human race as a whole is not a possibility. (Most of the allies the Sooks have are probably semi hivemindish, or else low-conflict. I imagine they go to great lengths to protect the allies they have, to the point that allies with low military strength are sheltered 'under their wing', so to speak, in exchange for whatever they're good at-the arts or the sciences or agriculture or /whatever/. They can be a very magnanimous people, and equally uncaring.))

-Ial is going to have a hard time changing their species' mind, when it comes to that point.  
(In the end it might well be posed as an experiment. Probably with some stipulations; they might well build in 'baby railings' on the space around the human race, so they can't leave their solar system. They /definitely/ would keep a surreptitious eye on their scientific advancement.....and possibly stymy it, at times.)   
What would the Sooks consider 'safe'? In general, but also specifically for the human race?  
How do they /normally/ neutralize people they deem to be threats?  
Options:  
-outright genocide, subtle or not (IE, nudging a race to extinguish themselves without revealing your presence, as opposed to crispy-frying their planet and everyone on it.)

-Cusping: keeping a race from advancing beyond a certain point. Races that are deemed to have potential (generally, to maybe /not be so dangerous/) are kept from going beyond a certain technological level+/area of space. May or may not be kept isolated; this can be to allow them to develop on their own, or to see how they react to a truly outside presence / get them used to the idea of aliens / guide their perception of aliens.  
-Just fucking. Taking over. Doing the whole 'alien overlords' thing. I don't think this would be /practical/, honestly, without a great deal of cruelty-and even then, it would just be....no. (For another thing, there's the good risk of any Sooks attached to the project going native, so to speak-it's not unheard of for a Sook to gain fondness of one member of a species, and subsequently more or less decide to adopt the rest. It's a gradual process, but it's there.)

  
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*Gender and sexuality for Sooks

-Does it apply to sexual activity, reproductive activity, or...both? If it applies to both, they would have to be separate metrics.  
-there are people who are asexual on the /fucking/ scale, definitely - though I think they tend to be cuddlesluts or smth instead, like, invariably, because it's a stress-relief and bonding thing.  
-there are people who decide not to reproduce, but I'm not sure what areproductuality?? would /look/ like.   
-possibly not having the 'oh, they would make a good co-parent' emotion (Co-parent attraction)  
-and/or missing 'good genetics, Would Combine Well' (Reproductive attraction.)  
-combined with lacking the..urges? I guess? to form a co-parenting group, or...whatever the specific urge is for reproductive attraction (exchange genebuds, maybe?)  
  
  
\- are there gay Sooks? there are asexual ones.  
Depends on differences between the sexes, and also like. gender vs sex, which I haven't really figured /out/ yet.  
Pronouns/societal role and physical sex are just about completely separate in Sook society. In what fucking world would it be polite to decide how you're going to refer to someone based on their /reproductive organs/. What the fuck.   
Gender and sex are completely removed in Khaa'sookian culture; they don't see a relation between the two.  
-What is their gender system?  
-It's not a binary. It's probably not even a five-gender system; again, gender and sex are not related.   
-What purpose does gender serve? What are the roles?  
Options:  
-relating to sex, and gender roles as seen in human society.  
-aesthetic  
-hell, I mean, they're aliens; maybe gender has absolutely or next to nothing to do with the human concept. It could even be combined with other things, like level of formality.

is gender a thing for Sooks? are there /trans/ Sooks? is gender NOT related to sex, and if so, /how the fuck would that work/.

Options:  
-your sex -your actual, biological sex-is just a biological fact, like hair color or height. Pronouns and modes of address are more important, and what you choose.   
-Some people are uncomfortable with their physical sex; it doesn't feel right to them, for one reason or another. Surgery is available for change into/from most sexes, though surgery that ensures /functionality/ is much, much more of a complicated process than, say, removing someone's Materialising organs and giving them false pollen pouches.   
-Full biological integration into a different sex is possible, but it's a //process//. They have to take out the wrong organs n junk, grow /new/ organs, and then presumably do surgery to put them /in/ or /on/ you. I have to imagine it takes a bit.  
-Some of the time consumingness of the process isn't because they /couldn't/ do it faster, but because it wasn't deemed psychologically healthy to rush the process. Sure, you could do it all at once-but you'd wake up with a vastly different body than you went to sleep with.  
-You can opt to have your new organs grown in a lab, or to have them implanted inside of yourself and grow /there/. There are more physical risks with this option, but it allows time to get /used/ to and take ownership of the changes, instead of being a sudden thing.  
-Another option is gene/hormone therapy, prompting your body to grow the new stuff /itself/. This is the most 'natural' way, but largely considered the most unpleasant, as it's basically like going through the Sook equivalent of puberty twice.  
-Being trans isn't a big deal  
-6th sex is neuter-they don't have any adaptations for child-rearing. Considered a mutation, it's kind of like if you just. Never developed a uterus or whatever. Can happen for various reasons-missing the genetic code meant to determine sex, or hormones or injury causing specific organs not to develop.  
What's the ratio of sex split? Is it 1:1:1:1:1? Are some sexes more common than others?  
Roles, by sex:  
Carrier: Kept as safe as possible during the rooting period, and for a few months leading up to budding season if they plan on reproducing they'll be eating a lot more to build up their reserves. Depending on how many Carriers/offspring there are in a group, may or may not be a hunter before it's time to carry. Probably does traps rather than jump n cut. Instinctually tries to build up energy reserves and conserve energy the most of all the sexes during budding season/once deciding to reproduce, because they're going to need a /lot/ of energy.  
Geneticist: A primary hunter, after a certain, pretty early point in the process they're not absolutely necessary.   
Nutritionist: Vital to the process. Too important to risk on a hunt.  
Materialist: Vital to the process. Too important to risk on a hunt, probably.  
Seedmaker: Kept very safe during key points of the process, after which they become a primary hunter. 

After the children are old enough to take in food on their own+don't need Nut+Mat fruit, the sexes start to take on fairly even roles as far as danger/risks go.

Who even knows how Sooks do the whole boning thing. They could ALL be demi. Fuck, there's gotta be some level of cultural junk around xenophilia-is it accepted in Sook society (I don't see why it /wouldn't/ be, unless you're putting someone at danger or wtvr), is it accepted in OTHER alien societies. 

  
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*How does Khaa'sookian language work?  
@ Base theorization  
@ Body Language  
@ Replication of writing through non-natural means, human translations  
^@ Overall  
^@ Color/pheromone code  
@ b. Ancient root words of the language 

@ Base theorization

-I think their written language might have primarily evolved as a way to leave messages and warnings to people (and possibly even themselves!), like: 'unstable ground *in this direction* (indicated direction)', or '(specific type of predator) lives nearby, probably leave/don't go *this way*'  
-I think they would include /level/ in their 'direction' warnings, like. 'in the trees'(/up, on cliffs, whatever) versus 'on ground-level' or even 'underground'. (gods, there have to be predators that pop up from the ground to attack. there absolutely have to be.)  
  
@ Body Language  
Do Sooks use it? They don't have a sense of sight like humans do, so it would have to be what they detect from their whole vibration, sound, scent, spatial awareness thing, which I havben't worked out all the details for.  


@ Replication through non-natural means, human translations  
^@ Overall  
-what if people are like 'oh what language is that you're speaking' and i'el is like 'it's a dialect of Welsh.'   
-not at all true but the language translated into 'English' uses a bastardization of the Welsh system because it's massively less stupid (IE: It's phonetic) than the English language. (okay but is there an in-universe justification for I'el to even write it that way instead of just using the Sook written language? Or is this more of a stepping-stone for me, or...?)  
-maybe sometimes ze need to take notes and it would be. inconvenient. to have 'alien letters' visible to humans. possibly difficult to explain.)

-How much of Sook language is even replicatable by humans? They write with their webbing, for one thing; it's possible you could synethsize some kind of similar material, /maybe/.   
-but even assuming you could get the writeability, the drying factor, the hardness, the /texture/ right-it's quite likely Sooks imbue chemical signals-pheromones, likely-into their writing. Even if a human could smell these signals, they don't have olfactory senses /nearly/ as complex as a Sook's; and replicating pheromones to put into the messages? /Good fucking luck/.  
-Could I use color - a sensory phenomenon Sooks are utterly unfamiliar with - to represent pheromones/scent?  
-I wonder if Sooks who write a lot use a tool for it, instead of producing their own silk+pheromones...?  
-Not to mention the difference between handwritten and what's on a projection- how would they represent scent? I can't really say having a computer replicate scent would....hm. Well. If they have scribing tools, why not? Treat it as matter reconstitution, send the information by metadata - by the makeup of chemical composition.  
-The idea of using pheromones also neatly ties into 'I am/you should'-instead of placing symbols, the scents/colors!! could be used!!  
-What does that mean for the symbols I've already worked out, though, denoting tense?.....I think they'd be useful for clarification, deffo. 

^@ Color/pheromone code  
-Opacity could denote how heavily applied the message is - like how you can go back over writing multiple times, or press down hard on the page.   
-Saturation - a different kind of emphasis?  
-Value - ? (How much it's 'From' or 'To'? ....a middling value could be 'I am and you should be'. Might be difficult to differentiate in the dark dark and light light ones, though.)   
-Hue - the specific kind of emotion...? It would take mcfucking AGES to map that, though, in the more complex messages. Maybe the color version would have to be, by necessity, less complex than true Sookian writing. You could use multiple colors, though - but that would make things very, very complicated very quickly, I think.   
-instead of trying to match very complicated emotions to a specific /hue/, of all things, use colors as notation/code and have maybe....a center hexagon, or a footnote, for 'this is the symbol I mean'? Of course, I'll have to be very careful to keep in mind that this is a human-style translation, and make note of what would be different in the originals.  
-Problem: Using colors for footnote ref means /assigning/ colors, and at a certain point if there are too many symbols that need representation, the systen falls apart for confusion. Also, it would essentially require either frequent reference to the hexanexus (hexagon nexus) or rhote memorization of a new code every time you read a new thing, which...no. It might make more sense to have like...declensions of the emotive sets. IE - more detail to less.   
-Idea to look into: the more detailed the picture of the emotion is, the stronger the emphasis? or would that bite you in the ass? Hm.  
-Need a way to combine the color and symbols so my idea on /emphasis/ is workable. (Additional little symbols for that? Like a circle filled a certain ammount...? buh. so complicated.)

_____________   
Misc/unassigned 

It's a mixture of   
-Sook language - symbols to denote emotion  
-Sook /body language/. figure out antennae positions, probably. 

Khaa'sookian language is phonetically transcribed as possible into the English language, when /I'm/ writing it instead of writing in like. true Sookian script.   
..there are. lots of hisses and clicks. hard to assign letters to those sounds.  
('x' is a sort of chittering sound. 'k' is a hard click, 'c' is sort of a softer click. 'cs' is a clicky hiss sort of thing. etc. 'h' is a breathy hiss noise. what we think of as 's' hissing doesn't actually happen a lot, interestingly.   
'q' is a /different/ noise, sort of like when you cluck your tongue. )   
-there are no 'd's in Sookian.  
-Sooks have a hard time pronouncing 'f' the English way. it's juuuust close enough to hissing to be difficult /not/ to.

Written language probably evolved from either painting or scratching symbols into smth.   
Some potential body language bits:  
-alert/alarmed, gathering information - antennae splayed out in either the direction the danger seems to be cmoing from, or evenly in the four directions (such as to determine there isn't danger in a radius around them, rather than in any particular direction.)

Sleepy - antennae curled up somewhat, maybe a bit droopy? (cute)

What are the accompaniments to the word 'Khaa'sookinian'? are accompaniments-/static/? I think they can't be. There'd gotta be like, commonalities-a frequent accent on that word, esp when faced toward outside their society, would likely be a sense of pride.  
-how do accents work? body language might well vary; and even if it /doesn't/, the structure of their antennae is so complicated that replicating them for every emotion would be-well, arduous and space-consuming, I must imagine.  
-maybe there's a kind of-/shorthand/? Little curls and dashes and shit that mean simple things-like, this curl means interest, that one means curiosity, this is anger. Maybe they have compound symbols for expressing multiple/complex emotions, or just...string the symbols together? I think that would be more indicative of the emotion being /sequential/, though.  
-how do they indicate 'from' ('I feel') and 'to' ('you/they should'). Directionality is one idea, but that seems a little oversimplistic-and how would you determine, say, /which/ 'you' they're talking about, then? is it /implied/?  
-where do the accents fit within the writing? are they bonded to specific words, or /parts/ of them? are they emphatic the way a speaker would be?   
-What if it's a matter of how you write-there's a /spectrum/-you can insert different, specific meaning into every individual vowel, or allow one (presumably more vague) emotion set to carry an entire writing. 

(Additional form between the two - 'I, for them'? !!! what if that was the bridge?? could have a...'messenger' set- except that would get complicated real fuckin fast, and indirect already /is/ a messenger form-it's just not taking deliberate notice of the messenger. The messenger themself is sort of a non-entity in that declension.)  
I-for-them would get complicated fast unless you used Nostive, hm. Because you have single, nostive, and plural 'i' in addition to single, nostive, and plural they. hmmmm.

Examples:  
Direct singular: I want 

Direct singular from: 'I'  
Direct nostive from: 'Ous'  
Direct plural from: 'We'

Indirect singular from: 'they' (but single)  
Indirect nostive from: 'they' (but indeterminate number)  
Indirect plural from: 'they' (but plural)

Indirect from is something like 'they say/feel'; it isn't claiming specific ownership of the words-it's just passing the message along.

(Nostive meaning something like 'intentionally ambiguous', but probably specific for this..../kind/ of declension. There are other words for 'intentionally ambiguous' for /different/ situations, probably.)  
-there must be TONS of emotive symbols-how many? the symbols themselves must be the same /base/ whether they're from or to; otherwise it would be ridiculously fucking overcomplicated and outright /wasteful/.  
-Maybe there are extra symbols specifically to indicate 'from' and 'to' in the various declensions? maybe just little tics?  
-What are the declensions of from and to?  
-direct from, indirect from (with specific and general?)  
-Direct from is 'I',. One indirect could be 'we', where one is a /specific/ we (the government, a particular group of people, etc). The other indirect could be more like-really vague? It's undisclosed identity of the speaker(s); could be'i', could be 'we'. That information is intentionally left out. This is probably used for non-first-person narrators in stories, for example; a kind of general 'i'.  
and one is a general, sweeping we-presumably kind of vague, an undisclosed party?/  
-There are probably plural+undisclosed direct froms, which are I/we; the difference between direct and indirect..?  
-could be that t here's a specific 'speaker'/spokesperson...? but then that muddies up plurality.  
-Maybe the difference between direct and indirect is /tone/? Familiarity?  
-From can be a general entity or a specific one. What's the difference, though? If it's just disclosure of identity, that wouldn't /work/ great. Maybe it's more-tone?  
  
-'To' can be direct - singular, plural, undisclosed-plurality you. It can indirect - singular, plural, undisclosed 'they'.

-How does direct/indirect work? It probably doesn't fit entirely within the framework of how humans write.   
-How do you tell the difference between 'you' directed at the reader and 'you' directed at a character, member of the audience, or what? 

-What is the primary meaning of written symbols? are there emotive and /other/ types? ....fuck. some options for representation  
-relative emotion/state of mind, portrayed through rough oversimplified antennae position  
-pheromones?  
-sound  
-vibration - level, /frequency/

If each symbol is complicated, it would make more sense for it to have a more complicated /meaning./ Do they..../use/ letters like we do? I think they probably have a whole mix-and-match thing going on; a base shape and/or format for ...words or the overall symbol, and then smaller interchangeable parts depending on what needs to be expressed.  
-most important information is the most readily available - probably either the /largest/ slash most obvious, or right in the middle.  
-An entire symbol is called   
-ooo what if related symbols /connect/ to each other like with thread or smth. what if that's how you know where a statement ends or smth, even though it's not in like. left-to-right.

From/To, Direct/Indirect, Sing/Nost/Plur  
Options: Spikier, More closed or more open (kind of a 'direction of attention' thing, I guess)

From  
Direct  
I/ous/we  
Indirect  
they(sing)/they(nost)/they(plur)

To  
Direct  
You(sing)/you(nost)/you(plur) ?  
Indirect  
They(sing)/they(nost)/they(plur)

Additional symbol to mean 'you, the reader'? or should it be subtext/something you work out? hm.

-'to' is outward. maybe flatter/more edges, in effect?  
Closed shapes indicate certainty (and possibly unity.) ?  
maybe their writing system is raised?   
-if they don't have sight, it's quite probable they wouldn't read left-to-right - maybe they start from the center and work out, or something? do they use their antennae to read? (They probably just drag the whole damn thing across the page or wtvr. or, hell. maybe they write really small so a symbol can be read with one feel - each symbol is a complete word or meaning on its own. They might have an alphabet, but each symbol is /combined/ in one word.   
-how does that work with /long/ words?

-adapt english to their system. just try it. then build from there.  
-circle-meaning  
-do they go by sound? what does their alphabet /consist/ of? it could go by meanings, specifically, but that would be so fucking complicated...

-if their antennae are that sensitive, theoretically they /could/ just write in english, maybe, but-they'd need to be able to differentiate specific words, which is hard if you're reading a letter at a time. which indicates the likelihood of putting it so a word can be read/felt all at once

  
-'alone' form?   
-What if the 'connected I' is the default form for 'I', as being part of a group/society is such a large part of Sook culture and psychology? Their connections with other people are so important that they're an integral part of their sense of self - to have no indication that one is connected to others in the symbol for 'I' would indicate more of a mental isolation of self than they have.   
-I'el quite possibly uses 'I, alone' - an archaic, very rarely used form, while they're in space.   
-....it's one of the most psychologically horrifying things the people who read their logs have ever seen.   
-(They use a different form once they're on Earth and recovered somewhat - a cored-out version of the default 'I', to indicate the isolation they still feel, but posessing the outer 'connections', because they /do/ have some. Though maybe not as many as there should be.)  
-Unsure if the cored version is I'el's adaptation, or something that's used in Sook culture to indicate trauma?  
-possibly the core gets smaller the better I'el feels (IE, the longer they recover. Not that there aren't backslides.)

Direct has a dot in the center, indirect doesn't  
-outside shape indicates singular/nostive/plural?

Sook' is a p informal slang for Khaa'sookinian

Khaa'sook (Khaa'sookinian) (high rattling hiss, lower hiss)  
Ca'zhaa (Ca'zhaang) (hiss rasp)

Khaz'uck inlian

maybe think '[stern] the federal government warns against piracy' - so sort of a third person? - for indirect from; indirect from is usually used on human warning signs - 'no fishing without a license [to: responsible wiggle]', 'federal property: do not trespass', etc. The identity of the warner may be /known/, but there's a sort of-personal distance?  
-maybe part of the 'i' is how direct it is /to/? hmmm  
-  
-most important information at the center - sets up the basis for the rest of the info.   
possibilities:  
-direct/indirect  
-type of word  
-emphasis+tone (probably separate words, so...?)

  
-How much of spoken language is like...what humans would recognize as words, as opposed to growls or clicks or...I don't know...plain old vibrations? Is it primarily auditory, or more felt..?

What does Khaa'sook mean? 'People of' something, probably. That's the /usual/ format. (Maybe 'people of Sook?' Consequently, humans might be 'Khaa'terra' -people of the land, or 'terra firma', because 'Khaa'Earth' doesn't sound great. Maybe 'Khaa'reth'-'Earth'+'terra', mixed up a little.)

  
@ b. Ancient root words of the language   
Some basic words that would likely have been used a long, long time ago and served as a base for the rest of the language, as they would be integral to survival.   
-Danger; most often used as a modifier ('dangerous') rather than on its own, as a nonspecific warning is nearly useless.   
-Predators  
-Sky, ground, underground.  
-Flora(stationary) - has size modifiers, most likely? As opposed to saying 'big trees and big bushes and big ferns', they'd likely just say 'big plants' unless there was a need to be more specific.  
-predator  
-ally/friendly  
-Kinsfolk, tribe?, family (close (within 1 gen), far, indirect

-From/near/by - EG, 'Danger from/near/by trees'. (EG: from the area, direction, etc.)   
-Indirect, sometimes directional meaning of the word from-'danger from trees' would be more along the lines of 'danger /near those/ trees', in this case, as opposed to 'trees are dangerous'.

-Hidden - has 'malicious' and 'benevolent' modifiers. 'Food (ben.)hidden.' 'Predators (mal.)hiding.'  
-Might mean 'difficult to see'/'not obvious' rather than specifically /hiding/, I think. For example, the common human example of a spy on the ceiling - they're plainly visible, but humans tend not to look up, and so they are hidden.  


  
-'Indicative indeterminate subject': In some symbols, focus needs to be led to a certain place to indicate /where/ the important information is - the symbols for sky, on the ground, and /underground/ are the same but for the placement of the root word/symbol, 'indeterminate subject', which is a placeholder symbol of sorts-it conveys emphasis on placement rather than the symbol itself.   
It allows the writer to say 'underground' instead of, for example, 'person underground' or 'predator underground'. ....it's about the equivalent of a human arrow pointing 'look, here, here's where I'm talking about', but built into the language structure. 

  
____________________  
____________________

Copy of how does Sook language work to pull from/delet pieces of

maybe their writing system is raised?   
-if they don't have sight, it's quite probable they wouldn't read left-to-right - maybe they start from the center and work out, or something? do they use their antennae to read? (They probably just drag the whole damn thing across the page or wtvr. or, hell. maybe they write really small so a symbol can be read with one feel - each symbol is a complete word or meaning on its own. They might have an alphabet, but each symbol is /combined/ in one word.   
-how does that work with /long/ words?

-adapt english to their system. just try it. then build from there.  
-circle-meaning  
-do they go by sound? what does their alphabet /consist/ of? it could go by meanings, specifically, but that would be so fucking complicated...

-if their antennae are that sensitive, theoretically they /could/ just write in english, maybe, but-they'd need to be able to differentiate specific words, which is hard if you're reading a letter at a time. which indicates the likelihood of putting it so a word can be read/felt all at once

  
-'alone' form?   
-What if the 'connected I' is the default form for 'I', as being part of a group/society is such a large part of Sook culture and psychology? Their connections with other people are so important that they're an integral part of their sense of self - to have no indication that one is connected to others in the symbol for 'I' would indicate more of a mental isolation of self than they have.   
-I'el quite possibly uses 'I, alone' - an archaic, very rarely used form, while they're in space.   
-....it's one of the most psychologically horrifying things the people who read their logs have ever seen.   
-(They use a different form once they're on Earth and recovered somewhat - a cored-out version of the default 'I', to indicate the isolation they still feel, but posessing the outer 'connections', because they /do/ have some. Though maybe not as many as there should be.)  
-Unsure if the cored version is I'el's adaptation, or something that's used in Sook culture to indicate trauma?  
-possibly the core gets smaller the better I'el feels (IE, the longer they recover. Not that there aren't backslides.)

Direct has a dot in the center, indirect doesn't  
-outside shape indicates singular/nostive/plural?

Sook' is a p informal slang for Khaa'sookinian

Khaa'sook (Khaa'sookinian) (high rattling hiss, lower hiss)  
Ca'zhaa (Ca'zhaang) (hiss rasp)

Khaz'uck inlian

maybe think '[stern] the federal government warns against piracy' - so sort of a third person? - for indirect from; indirect from is usually used on human warning signs - 'no fishing without a license [to: responsible wiggle]', 'federal property: do not trespass', etc. The identity of the warner may be /known/, but there's a sort of-personal distance?  
-maybe part of the 'i' is how direct it is /to/? hmmm  
-  
-most important information at the center - sets up the basis for the rest of the info.   
possibilities:  
-direct/indirect  
-type of word  
-emphasis+tone (probably separate words, so...?)

  
-How much of spoken language is like...what humans would recognize as words, as opposed to growls or clicks or...I don't know...plain old vibrations? Is it primarily auditory, or more felt..?

What does Khaa'sook mean? 'People of' something, probably. That's the /usual/ format. (Maybe 'people of Sook?' Consequently, humans might be 'Khaa'terra' -people of the land, or 'terra firma', because 'Khaa'Earth' doesn't sound great. Maybe 'Khaa'reth'-'Earth'+'terra', mixed up a little.)

  
Emotive accent methods:   
-encircle all affected  
-use bracket/footnote method (IE, assign a shorthand symbol to the emotive symbol (like how you'd use ^1) to 'open' emotion, and use it again to 'close' where it ends.

  
_______________________  
_______________________

  
*Grammar: From and To (or; Speaker and Listener/Audience.)  
Both 'from' and 'to' are used in each hexagonal structure. Speaker, or 'From', denotes the number of people the message is from as well as 'Indirect/Direct' identity-or, whether the speaker is stating something directly or passing a message along.(?) Grammatically, the symbol informing the form 'From' takes will be in the center of the Hexagonal Structure, or 'HS' as it will be abbreviated.  
Audience, or 'To', is broadly who the message is meant for. The number of people,   
long  
the identity of the speaker in relation to them-namely, whether   
person/people the message is from. It should be noted that this is not 

  
(Additional form between the two - 'I, for them'? !!! what if that was the bridge?? could have a...'messenger' set- except that would get complicated real fuckin fast, and indirect already /is/ a messenger form-it's just not taking deliberate notice of the messenger. The messenger themself is sort of a non-entity in that declension.)  
I-for-them would get complicated fast unless you used Nostive, hm. Because you have single, nostive, and plural 'i' in addition to single, nostive, and plural they. hmmmm.

Examples:  
Direct singular: I want 

Direct singular from: 'I'  
Direct nostive from: 'Ous'  
Direct plural from: 'We'

Indirect singular from: 'they' (but single)  
Indirect nostive from: 'they' (but indeterminate number)  
Indirect plural from: 'they' (but plural)

Indirect from is something like 'they say/feel'; it isn't claiming specific ownership of the words-it's just passing the message along.

(Nostive meaning something like 'intentionally ambiguous', but probably specific for this..../kind/ of declension. There are other words for 'intentionally ambiguous' for /different/ situations, probably.)  
-there must be TONS of emotive symbols-how many? the symbols themselves must be the same /base/ whether they're from or to; otherwise it would be ridiculously fucking overcomplicated and outright /wasteful/.  
-Maybe there are extra symbols specifically to indicate 'from' and 'to' in the various declensions? maybe just little tics?  
-What are the declensions of from and to?  
-direct from, indirect from (with specific and general?)  
-Direct from is 'I',. One indirect could be 'we', where one is a /specific/ we (the government, a particular group of people, etc). The other indirect could be more like-really vague? It's undisclosed identity of the speaker(s); could be'i', could be 'we'. That information is intentionally left out. This is probably used for non-first-person narrators in stories, for example; a kind of general 'i'.  
and one is a general, sweeping we-presumably kind of vague, an undisclosed party?/  
-There are probably plural+undisclosed direct froms, which are I/we; the difference between direct and indirect..?  
-could be that t here's a specific 'speaker'/spokesperson...? but then that muddies up plurality.  
-Maybe the difference between direct and indirect is /tone/? Familiarity?  
-From can be a general entity or a specific one. What's the difference, though? If it's just disclosure of identity, that wouldn't /work/ great. Maybe it's more-tone?  
  
-'To' can be direct - singular, plural, undisclosed-plurality you. It can indirect - singular, plural, undisclosed 'they'.

-How does direct/indirect work? It probably doesn't fit entirely within the framework of how humans write.   
-How do you tell the difference between 'you' directed at the reader and 'you' directed at a character, member of the audience, or what? 

*Written emotion, or: mood indicators (and how they work on a basis of 'From' and 'To')

[Fond-exasperated@] I left instructions for the kitchen-AI to make sure [edges of concern#] you eat dinner tonight; [wry% ]I know you forget when we're not around to remind you.%#@

What are the emotional accompaniments to the word 'Khaa'sookinian'? are accompaniments-/static/? I think they can't be. There'd gotta be like, commonalities-a frequent accent on that word, esp when faced toward outside their society, would likely be a sense of pride.  
-how do accents work? body language might well vary; and even if it /doesn't/, the structure of their antennae is so complicated that replicating them for every emotion would be-well, arduous and space-consuming, I must imagine.  
-maybe there's a kind of-/shorthand/? Little curls and dashes and shit that mean simple things-like, this curl means interest, that one means curiosity, this is anger. Maybe they have compound symbols for expressing multiple/complex emotions, or just...string the symbols together? I think that would be more indicative of the emotion being /sequential/, though.  
-how do they indicate 'from' ('I feel') and 'to' ('you/they should'). Directionality is one idea, but that seems a little oversimplistic-and how would you determine, say, /which/ 'you' they're talking about, then? is it /implied/?  
-where do the accents fit within the writing? are they bonded to specific words, or /parts/ of them? are they emphatic the way a speaker would be?   
-What if it's a matter of how you write-there's a /spectrum/-you can insert different, specific meaning into every individual vowel, or allow one (presumably more vague) emotion set to carry an entire writing. 

  
*Sook grammar: From and To  
-how to alter 'from' and 'to' forms so that you know the /identity/ of the person speaking/being spoken to? IE- 'I, Fitzgerald Maplecourt' or 'The Department of Fish and Game.' Probably an addendum written in a ring around 'From' and in a ring within 'To'?   
-Sook names/identities are long, so they probably write them out once (in the beginning) and then use an indicated shorthand or nickname (certain symbols underlined or smth the first time, maybe, or I'alesh Shikan Flanth, Blank of Blank: I'al. or (name): ISF, idk. Except doubt they use alphabet quite like we do.) if they need to reference it again. 

In longer pieces of writing (like novels) instead of repeating 'From' and 'To' if they're the same, there's probably a simpler, default symbol to use that just means 'same as before'. For 'To' that'd likely be an unbroken hexagon. For 'From' it might just be a dash or an x or something-smth real simple to make that won't be confused for another symbol. 

From/To, Direct/Indirect, Sing/Nost/Plur  
Options: Spikier, More closed or more open (kind of a 'direction of attention' thing, I guess)

From  
Direct  
I/ous/we  
Indirect  
they(sing)/they(nost)/they(plur)

To  
Direct  
You(sing)/you(nost)/you(plur) ?  
Indirect  
They(sing)/they(nost)/they(plur)

Additional symbol to mean 'you, the reader'? or should it be subtext/something you work out? hm.

-'to' is outward. maybe flatter/more edges, in effect?  
Closed shapes indicate certainty (and possibly unity.) ?

*Basis of 'alphabet' - sound? Meaning?  
Sound? Scent? Individual meanings, like 'danger' or 'food'? What's the /basis/ of their written system, and in fact their language as a whole?  
-Simple building blocks with massive potential for variation therein-you build off of the basic word with other words. 'Aunt', for example (if its own word didn't exist) could be 'Geneticparent-sibling', or 'Adopted Older Family', for example. 

-I think their written language might have primarily evolved as a way to leave messages and warnings to people (and possibly even themselves!), like: 'unstable ground *in this direction* (indicated direction)', or '(specific type of predator) lives nearby, probably leave/don't go *this way*'  
-I think they would include /level/ in their 'direction' warnings, like. 'in the trees'(/up, on cliffs, whatever) versus 'on ground-level' or even 'underground'. (gods, there have to be predators that pop up from the ground to attack. there absolutely have to be.)

-What is the primary meaning of written symbols? are there emotive and /other/ types? ....fuck. some options for representation  
-relative emotion/state of mind, portrayed through rough oversimplified antennae position  
-pheromones?  
-sound  
-vibration - level, /frequency/

  
If each symbol is complicated, it would make more sense for it to have a more complicated /meaning./ Do they..../use/ letters like we do? I think they probably have a whole mix-and-match thing going on; a base shape and/or format for ...words or the overall symbol, and then smaller interchangeable parts depending on what needs to be expressed.  
-most important information is the most readily available - probably either the /largest/ slash most obvious, or right in the middle.  
-An entire symbol is called   
-ooo what if related symbols /connect/ to each other like with thread or smth. what if that's how you know where a statement ends or smth, even though it's not in like. left-to-right.

  
*How do they write before holograms? Erase?  
-I think their written language might have primarily evolved as a way to leave messages and warnings to people (and possibly even themselves!)  
-Probably use silk from hands. Acid will erase, or really just melt it, even after it's hardened. Or it can be scraped off.  
-Maybe it isn't 'permanent'-that particular /type/ of silk-until they've treated it somehow; given it an acid bath or sun-treated it or something. (Isn't permanent/hard to scratch off, but is hard/staying-on enough that they can feel back over what they've writtten if they're not too rough without worrying about destroying the message.)

Written language probably evolved from either painting or scratching symbols into smth. In this case, their silk. Paint on, scratch off the bits you don't need or wtvr. They probably 'paint' rather than just coating a surface and scratching meaning /into/ it, though.  
-EG: drawing Hexagonal Structure, instead of putting in all the skips and such from the beginning, they just draw a hexagon and then scratch off the pieces that need to be empty spaces.  
  
  
  
###########################################################  
*Sook body language  
Some potential body language bits:  
-alert/alarmed, gathering information - antennae splayed out in either the direction the danger seems to be cmoing from, or evenly in the four directions (such as to determine there isn't danger in a radius around them, rather than in any particular direction.)

Sleepy - antennae curled up somewhat, maybe a bit droopy? (cute)  
It's a mixture of   
-Sook language - symbols to denote emotion  
-Sook /body language/. figure out antennae positions, probably. 

*Khaa'Sookinian in relation to English / translated

  
Khaa'sookian langauge is phonetically transcribed as possible into the English language, when /I'm/ writing it instead of writing in like. true Sookian script.   
..there are. lots of hisses and clicks. hard to assign letters to those sounds.  
('x' is a sort of chittering sound. 'k' is a hard click, 'c' is sort of a softer click. 'cs' is a clicky hiss sort of thing. etc. 'h' is a breathy hiss noise. what we think of as 's' hissing doesn't actually happen a lot, interestingly.   
'q' is a /different/ noise, sort of like when you cluck your tongue. )   
-idea: there are no 'd's in Sookian.   
-Sooks have a hard time pronouncing 'f' the English way. it's juuuust close enough to hissing to be difficult /not/ to.

-what if people are like 'oh what language is that you're speaking' and i'el is like 'it's a dialect of Welsh.'   
-not at all true but the language translated into 'English' uses a bastardization of the Welsh system because it's massively less stupid (IE: It's phonetic) than the English language. (okay but is there an in-universe justification for I'el to even write it that way instead of just using the Sook written language? Or is this more of a stepping-stone for me, or...?)  
-maybe sometimes ze need to take notes and it would be. inconvenient. to have 'alien letters' visible to humans. possibly difficult to explain.)

####################################  
####################################  
*Reproduction and related culture  
@An overview of primarily the biological reproductive process  
:!Probable things  
-;!A basic overview of the process?  
-;!The primary sexes  
-@!Specialist/Materialist  
-@!Victualist/Nutritionarian  
-@!Geneticist/Pollinator  
-@!Seedmaker/Formator  
-@!Weaver/Developmentalist/Carrier  
-;!Roles performed by each group  
-;!Sex determination  
:!Possible things  
@Reproduction and sociology   
:!Known things  
:!Possible things  
@ Intersex /Non-primary sexes; 'Neutral, Intersex, and You'  
@Abstention from Parenting  
@Unsorted  
@Footnotes

  
===

@An overview of primarily the biological reproductive process  
:!Known things  
:!Possible things  
===

:!Probable things  
-;!A basic overview of the process?  
-;!Basic primer on the primary sexes  
-;!Roles performed by each group  
===  
;!A basic overview of the process?

-There are five primary Khaa'sookian sexes^1, each with a distinct and necessary part in the reproductive process. One individual of each sex is required (barring scientific intervention, or other bizarre circumstances) for the production of healthy young, though the process theoretically could technically involve any number of individuals in the right circumstances, if one is willing to look at it a certain way.  
-Webs of people are complex.   
-Actually, the number of individuals involved in one way or another is highly variable. While it isn't currently known how many people can directly contribute genetic material for one 'batch' of younglings, that's only the beginning of the complexity. It gets much, much twistier from there. For example; say there are six people in Parenting Group A (PGA). One of them may donate Fruit or other aid to another group, or even some genebuds!   
Perhaps PGA has three Nutritionists, but no Materialists; they might recieve that type of Fruit from another group entirely, who may need.... and it goes on. This is without mentioning /babysitting/. Even in Western human culture, with a large focus on two-person couples and typically no more than five children total, childcare becomes something of a familial, communal practice.   
With (typically) five or more parents, this workload should be spread out somewhat-but for the fact that Sookian parents are usually at least three kids to a parent!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
===  
;!The primary sexes  
-@!Overview  
-@!Specialist/Materialist  
-@!Victualist/Nutritionarian -@!Geneticist/Pollinator  
-@!Seedmaker/Formator -@!Weaver/Developmentalist/Carrier

\------

@!Overview  
The five primary sexes are each integral to the reproductive process, alien as it may be to human conception, and are as follows: Nutritionarian (or Victualist, Foodmaker), Materialist (or Specialist, Bonemaker), Geneticist (or Pollinator), Seedmaker (Formator?), and Carrier (Developmentalist). 

\------

-@!Specialist/Materialist

-materialists are specialists, which is why they're important; they actually produce fruit outside of breeding season, because others of the species can't make the nutrient naturally; consequently, though, they require easily-digestible (/predigested?) food, because the room they would use to digest that food is taken up by their specialist organs.  
They thus rely on Nutritionalists for food, and without them would starve. 

  
\------

-@!Victualist/Nutritionarian/Nutritionalist 

Nutritionalists, as a result of Materialists' lack of ability to produce food on their own, produce said easily-digestible fruit on a regular basis, and so needs to /eat/ more than other sexes, as they're really eating for however many people they produce fruit for. (Possibly their body knows this through pheromones - the number of materialists you....live with, or something? Hmn.) Of course, there is an upper limit to healthily producing this fruit, and they probably won't naturally produce more than they can make without some extra factor, because otherwise that would be chaos and awful.

-%  
Conjecture/spinning it out:  
A Materialist may have a particular Nutritionist they eat from; perhaps they tend to be bonded and this is part of how the Victualists' body knows how much food to make - the instinct of 'oh, this person is (mine and) hungry and I can feed them and they can feed me in return' is part of what triggers fruit production.   
Or, rather, /heavier/ fruit production; a Nutritionist who's been eating enough will mostly likely produce fruit as a matter of course.  
Maybe how much fruit they produce depends on things like their level of stored energy/how much they eat? If they eat less/go out in the sunshine less, for example, they might produce less fruit. (Maybe they can store food 'unprocessed' for later breaking down when they have access to light, or smth? except I think the majority of their energy COMES from the sunlight, doesn't it? Which would mean being subterranian would /not/ work well for this species, unless some castes are and some aren't, +you have a 'feeder' class and an 'eater' class. (Except, I think they just do something with mirrors to make it bright where they live so that they can be belowground where temperature and the like is more stable, and sort of 'import' the light down to themselves. Maybe there's some native creature/plant that can even 'store' sunlight for them, or the like.)

%-

  
One of the largest sexes.

\------  
-@!Geneticist/Pollinator

  
\------

-@!Seedmaker/Formator 

  
\------

-@!Weaver/Developmentalist/Carrier

weaver? why carry them inside your body. Maybe coughs up or sheds or /smth/ fatty deposits to put in the sack for the babies...? Presumably makes some sort of special silk for the broodpouch...? maybe they're just shaped really well to /carry/ the younglings? like having a hollow beneath their leaves.

  
===  
;!Roles performed by each group

There are typically considered to be four groups involved in Sookian reproduction: Genetic^2 and Processarial Contributors, Family/Community, and Co-parents, also known as Caretakers. 

  
A brief overview of the roles performed by each group is below: 

Genetic Contributors: As the name suggests, individuals contribute DNA (or the Sookian equivalent) that will become the template for offspring, eventually-assuming it's accepted. This can be through the use of genebuds,, or through other methods (probably tissue donation) with the use of scIENCE!! A genetic contributor will not necessarily parent the offspring, which is a cultural convention.

Processarial Contributors: Those who perform the part of their sexes in reproduction; that is, a Victualist or Materialist bearing fruit, a Formator creating seeds, etc. 

  
===   
-!Possible things

  
and those who actually raise the resultant younglings (Co-parents, or 'Caretakers'.)  
For information on how these roles overlap, (which is. a very complex and also rather tangled subject)  
The overlap between groups is fascinating and vital, but, while intrinsic to the topic, this is sociological rather than strictly biological, and consequently further information on the topic can be found in "@Reproduction and sociology".

-Sexual differentiation is not, as in the case of humans, due to the presence or absence of a chromosome; the genetic information for each sex is present in every individual.

-How are the parental instincts kick-started?  
Is it by engaging in the Processarial bit? Is it being there when the kids Emerge? Is it a longer process, maybe? Or possibly engaged by carrying young in their backpouch?  
-I'm thinking there is probably something to do with pheromones? Like, maybe there's a bonding period of a few days post-Emergence where the young are giving off bonding pheromones like crazy. This would really either have to start before Emergence so that the Carrier(s) got it, too.  
-possibly /being/ a Carrier, nurturing them, automatically starts the process. That makes it sort of uneven for the rest of the sexes, tbh....because then why wouldn't the Seedmaker and Geneticist potentially feel the same way? And then that leaves out the Fruitbearers, which is a No. So either it has to be intrinsic to /every/ sex, presumably by performing their Processarial contribution, or it wouldn't work like that for any of them. So, no.

-The back-pouches are, of course, reinforced. The opening and part of the 'tunnel' is composed of muscle, and capable of shifting open (maybe there's a hinged piece of carapace) so that the young can enter and exit.   
-the opening is squishy, I think. The muscle and the like is probably thinner near here, to allow /room/ for the younglings to get in without changing the overall shape of the back.  
-Have to keep in mind that children need to be able to get in and out  
-Hey what if the kids get stuck in there? Or are too weak to come out? What if they die? Is there a way to....I guess you could flush it out if you had to, or reach in with like. Tongs. Maybe their backs can open just that much more so that smth can go in to /get/ the kid(s) if needed

Notes about the brooding pouch:  
-Not sure /where/ it is yet, but it needs to be somewhere that theoretically someone could stick a hand in and fish out any babies that haven't come out for whatever reason; consequently, the Emergence channel and the Brooding Pouch have to be a straight shot, ish.   
-the nutrient sac (name pending) presumably deflates as the younglings use it up, giving them more room.   
-The younglings don't just.....stand up, or whatever, while they're in the brooding pouch. Their upper bodies are probably curled up ('fetal position') and their roots might not just go /down/; they probably go out somewhat. Legs probs grow in at an angle, or smth.   
-I'm not sure if the 'brooding pouch' is the same as -hm. What if Sooks spin a sort of pouch for their young, out of their silk, and hang it under their shoulder-leaves?  
-For that matter, why do they need to brood them inside of their bodies? They could do something similar with the inital sprouting, couldn't they....? except that would remove the need for the Carrier, wouldn't it? And it would place a lot of nutritional onus on the, well, Nutritionist.   
-Young give off gasses instead of excreting solid waste. This causes the brooding pouch to give off 'farts' sometimes - although it's probably not noisy like it is for humans. 

  
The five primary sexes are each integral to the reproductive process, alien as it may be to human conception, and are as follows: Nutritionarian (or Victualist), Materialist (or Specialist), Geneticist (or Pollinator), Seedmaker (Formator?), and Carrier (Developmentalist). 

-do Sooks?? have DNA???

Physical differences between the primary sexes?

-Sooks are able to change sex.  
-Only one sex is /active/ at a time. They might be able to possess the structures for more than one simultaneously, though - I'm not sure yet. 

Possible strategies:   
-How many sexes do they possess at a time?  
-One sex at a time   
-Have the smaller sexes be more abundant and potentially transform into the larger ones if 'necessary'. Sequential hermaphrodism.   
-Carrier would be 'endstate', + least common.  
-Nutritionist would be ~ second least common.  
-Materialist+Geneticist? probably about the same size, but go on different tracks; Materialist can become a Nutritionist, Geneticist can become....Seedmaker?  
-Not sure who can become Carrier.  
-Are sex changes /permanent/? Can you be more than one at a time, healthily?   
-Maybe Sooks don't develop a sex whatsoever until it's triggered - say, by becoming part of a reproductive group. Or possibly they develop a sex, but it's possible for it to change if the need changes.  
-First rep. season with a group is changing to a sex the group needs; second season on is when actual reproduction can occur.  
-What triggers this change, though? A), how does their body know it's time to grow a sex at /all/, and b), how does it know /which one/??  
-For 'which sex', maybe their body has a priority list of which sex would be best for the individual, going by like, build n stuff. They /can/ become another sex, but they'd be less suited for it or have to physically adapt more/further.  
-Pheromones probably have something to do with this-being around other members of the group+all that, probably lets each of their bodies work it out what's needed or smth. Unless the process is somehow more voluntary, I guess...?  
-How do their bodies know to start growing a sex in the first place?   
-Probably a check their bodies do sometime around budding season - 'do we have a mating group' or smth. There's probably some kind of biological ritual involved. (Maybe there's like, a specific week they have to spend together+do smth to kick-start the process. Lots of matrix-touching, I'm betting-scenting+smelling each other and the like. Biologically-encouraged group cuddles.) Hormones are stimulated if you have the minimum of people, maybe. (In modern days, it's presumably possible to do a kind of artifical hormone-induced sex growth, but it's a) tradition and b) culturally important to still do the whole bonding week even if you're going to get artificial assistance, I think.)  
-What if having two sexes is normal? Like, you /can/ have only one, but it's not uncommon to have two sexes - it's an adaptation. You just only use one per season, it's determined by the group you're in which it'll be. (Or other factors, if you're not in a parenting group.)  
-Nutritionist + Carrier have about the same necessary role; calories n stuff. so they might go together. Or it could be a free-for-all.   
-I think may just be some that wouldn't be compatible, maybe...? But I'm not sure. Would a Materialist be more suited to also being a Nutritionist because they're /also/ fruitbearing, or would that be crowding out their Materialist equipment?  
-What if, like....it's not uncommon to not develop your secondary sex until you join a Co-parent group. And the first season/year, it's literally spent as people transitioning into new sexes if needed for the composition of the group. It's not until the second or third year that they actually /reproduce/.   
  
  
What's the overlap for sex organs? Would they even be /able/ to have more than one sex going on at a time? Need to determine the organ layout for each sex, see how much wiggle room there is for 'extra's.  
-The thing is that I don't think there would be /room/ to have multiple systems at a time.

-What stage of development, as compared to Earth fauna, are seeds when finished by the Seedmaker?  
-Has a head....shape. Vague puttying around in the direction of roots maybe eventually being split, arm-blobs on opposite sides of the body. 

  
What does the Carrier do?  
They provide a safe, warm, stable environment for the seedlings to propogate; provide a place to root within their own bodies, in the hollow at their back, where the young can absorb nutrients and remain protected from the harsh outside conditions of the world until they're strong enough to shed their root-sheathes.

The Lifemaker:  
The Lifemaker builds fully-functioning seeds from the genetic templates provided by the Remixer. Each flower creates one seed; pruning off extra flowers reduces the number of seeds to be created, which is a funny method of birth control imo. Once the seeds are fully formed, they're passed to the Carrier.

The Remixer:  
They take in the genebuds of the genetic parents-to-be, and melt them down using a specialized organ that preserves the DNA. Incomplete and certain types of unhealthy contributions are discarded during the proces. The remaining DNA combined to form the complete genetic code that will be passed on to the young, which is provided to the Lifemaker via pollination.

Questions: How does the Geneticist's part of the reproductive process work?  
-/Do/ they have a 'filtration' process, internally?  
-If so, /when/ does it occur - pre or post melting of the buds?  
-Does it target the genome? The buds themselves (IE, wilting or necrosis?) Both?

Things I know about the Geneticist's part, even if they're not absolutely certain to be kept:  
-They take in the genebuds of all genetic parents. This is how the genetics of the young are determined.  
-The way they take in the buds is by ingesting them through the mouth, into a split off the esophagus  
-They have a way of breaking down the genebuds without fucking up the DNA within them.  
-Instead of having pollen pouches on the tips of their sensory matrices, what if the pouches were elsewhere and thethey just used the matrix tips like makeup brushes?  
-The pouches could be inside their brooding-pouches, too, maybe? would keep them from getting pollen everywhere. Alternatively, could be at the base of their matrix, I guess? 

The Foodmaker:  
Before the young come, the fruit they make provides extra energy for those in the active process of reproducing; the majority would traditionally go to the Carrier, whose energy load in the process is highest, but in modern times it's more common to split the fruit more evenly, or even donate it, as the Sooks' diet is easily supplemented.  
Provides the brunt of the offspring's caloric intake while they're too young to spend much time outside of the parents' broodpouches, in easily-digestible form.

Possible stuff:

The sexes fall into various categories, some of which tend to overlap; -Nourishants; Nutritionist, Materialist, Carrier  
-Of which there is the subcategory 'Fruitbearing'.  
-Nascenformators; Geneticist and Seedmaker. 

  
{Don't really like this all that much...need to decide what to do with it.  
Sexual dimorphism - except I need a word that doesn't mean 'two differences'  
-Sooks don't have much in the way of visual differences like breasts or big hips. They're not a visual species (seeing as they literally don't have eyes.) They do have /some/ differences that are visually discernible, but they're (mostly) for practical purposes rather than  
-Scents:  
-Nutritionists smell fruity? aiwjfowifjoiw what if I'el smells kind of like mangoes but /just/ dissimilar enough that Yosun can't place the scent and it drives them fucking /nuts/ and then when they FINALLY get it they just SHOUT IT OUT and look like a loon.  
-Materialists-smell like metal/compounds, maybe? (IE the stuff they produce?)  
-Carriers probably smell kind of like soil.  
-Geneticists...? Presumably can't smell like pollen (is that even a smell?) ..default Sooks smell with a twist, I guess? Idk. Half-think they would smell...nutty? Like, protein? Fuck. Maybe the smells are just random to identify, IDK. Are there even hormonal differences outside of mating season/early child rearing?  
-Seedmakers /can't/ smell like flowers, they don't usually have them! So /why/ is that my first instinct..? So, option one is slightly flowery and then REAL flowery during mating time.  
-Hell maybe the specific smells /are/ specific but they aren't something a human would recognize. Maybe they only really show up near budding season, though...I think that's /stupid/. (I DO think they would be kind of ever-present, but not especially /strong/ most of the time. I wonder if people wear scent/hormone-blockers? Hm.  
I still think they would politely pretend not to know each others' sexes (unless maybe it's relevant?...no.) because it's really none of your fucking business. Wearing 'fake-out' scents is also a thing-either covering yours + wearing another sex's smell, or going the apparently-intersex route.}

-How is sex determined in Sooks?  
-Not the human way - there's 'Y' chromosome present or not to determine sex.  
-Lizards work by the temperature, which I think No.  
-Could be that just....certain genes are activated, (while /all/ are present),  
-What are some crazy ways that they could be determined?

@Reproduction and sociology   
How it relates to culture, relevant practices.

-Co-parenting groups (IE, those that raise the children) generally have an unchanging core membership, with the strictist delineation of the three types of groups involved in the reproductive process. This isn't, of course, counting the /very/ extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc, who may pop in and out of the youngling's lives in visits and babysitting and the like, but wouldn't be considered part of the Co-parenting group.  
Delineation between Processarial and Genetic Contributory groups, however, is much messier. 

Theoretically, a Co-parenting group could perform all of these roles insularly; in reality, this is rather uncommon. Maybe someone has genetics that could be harmful to pass on to the younglings, or sometimes there isn't a person of every sex in a group.  
In other cases, folks are related to each other and don't want their descendents to have the wrong number of legs, so a bit of group-shuffling for who contributes genetics where is required.   
It's pretty common for siblings or cousins to decide to Co-parent; they've often known each other all their lives, and platonic life partners are an intrinsic part of Sookian culture. Considering that Co-Parenting is a platonic process (more on that in a mo), the progression to parenting together is quite natural and healthy.   
As a result, however, this tends to require some shuffling around of who's donating genetics where.

Consequently, calling it a 'daisy chain' of reproduction wouldn't be accurate; it's much, much messier than that. Where Co-parenting circles are sort of insular and stable, there tends to be a fair amount of overlap between different groups in regards to Genetic and Processarial contributions.   
For the Genetic roles, this tends to be to avoid incest, or if one or more of the involved parents has genetic that might be harmful if passed on to the young; and so, for example, two pairs of siblings from differing Parent groups may swap the genebuds of one of the siblings each, which has numerous advantages.   
For similar reasons, some Processarial roles tend to be exchanged. {Related Geneticist and Seedmakers, for example, might swap groups so as not to be pollinating someone they're related to, which /probably/ doesn't have any deleterious effect on the young-it's just kind of 'eh, incest', by human standards. Even though it's not sexual. (It's decidedly more of a 'trust' intimate than in any way romantic.) Or in any way affecting the genetics. ......so why would they bother?}  
It should also be noted that one technically doesn't have to contribute to the Genetic or Processarial part of the process...essentially whatsoever, to be a Parent. Likewise, one can contribute to either Genetically or Processarially and not the other. {(Something causes the Parental Instincts to kick in, but I haven't figured out what yet, so shhhhh.)}

It's very common for parenting groups to overlap in genetic contribution and process contribution, for a number of reasons; a group might be missing a Nutritionist, so one steps in for only that part, for example.   
Genebud-swapping is very common, as co-parents are often siblings and, well, incest avoidance. (It's probably not terribly a problem in the /short/-term for a species with so many contributors to the genepool of each batch of kids, but like. Practically, if even just a few siblings reproduce and reproduce and reproduce, it doesn't go well. So keeping new blood flowing in (and out) is important to the health of the populace.)

  
-Possible alternate names/titles for the different sexes:  
Nutritionarian/Food-maker: Victualist, Calorian, Feeder-of-the-young, Food-maker  
Materialist, Specialist/Healthbringer: (Giver of strong-bones and teeth, thick-healthy skin and unwithered roots)  
Geneticist/Remixer: Pollinator, (Remixer and discarder and combiner of genes.  
Ovarist/Lifemaker: (Maker of the form of our young, potential-creator)  
Propogator/Carrier: Root-nourisher, Keeper of the seedlings, (sacred place of first growth), First Protector, Uterun

  
@ Physical differences between the primary sexes

  
@ Intersex /Non-primary sexes; 'Neutral, Intersex, and You'

(Intersex Sooks are another matter entirely in regards to reproduction, with some being sterile, some able to reproduce one way or another, and some technically able to reproduce, really, if they had to, but with it being the sort of 'able' and 'technically' that they really /shouldn't/, for the health of either the parent, offspring, or both.)

  
@Abstention from Parenting  
  
Khaa’sookinians tend to be a fairly single-minded race, with an intense focus on whatever they have decided their Purpose to be, frequently to the exclusion of nearly any other major goal, though they do, at least, remember to eat and such; it's less an intense hyperfocus than a sustained state of concentration that can last on one subject for years.  
The majority of Khaa’sookinians are too involved in their careers, hobbies, or whatever they’ve fixated on as a particular interest to have the time or wish to engage in the very /involved/ process of parenting.  
Khaa’sookinians tend to be a fairly single-minded race, with an intense focus on whatever they have decided their Purpose to be (as explained in the @ ‘Abstention from Parenting’); the majority of Sooks are too busy with their Focus to want/have time to engage in child-rearing. Some of them Focus on child-rearing, of course, which is its own solution. (This doesn't necessarily mean that they can't contribue genetic material, of course, or possibly Processarially.)  
  
The majority of Kaa'sookinians are Focused on something that wouldn't lend well to child-rearing, though there are some few who either Focus on something that /does/ (which does not always mean they will choose to reproduce, if only for lack of similarly available partners) or simply make room within their schedules for such a thing. Reproductive sabbaticals and reduced work-loads are granted with no difficulty in all but the most time-sensitive of fields, (in which case there tends to be need of personnel reshuffling so that there isn't a gap, which can take a while; the request is, nonetheless, /always/ approved. Reproduction is considered an integral right to all Sooks)  
There are whatever the Sook gov's equivalent of a subsidy is for people who decide to raise families, of course- it's very much considered a career all on its own, and is renowned for being a difficult and consuming duty. It's..../actually/ honored, without being fucking glorified, unlike in American culture. It's difficult but necessary, and presumably rewarding.  
Fascinatingly, the same Focus that applies to projects and goals is commonly speculated by sociologists to have originated from an adaptation/mutation of the parenting instinct turned in a different direction.

  
@Unsorted

{Old stuff: go through and see what's applicable. 

Terminology:   
-Original-Style Reproduction (‘OSR’. ‘OR/or’, if you’re in a hurry.) The way Sooks evolved to reproduce, genebuds+differing sex roles and all. Humans would probably refer to it as ‘natural reproduction’, because they’re fucking snobs.  
-Substitutional method of reproduction (‘SUM’.) ‘Substitutional’ refers to potentially many parts of the process - substituted genetic material, esp non-Sook-grown genebuds or contribution, to using a specialty incubator instead of having a Carrier provide shelter for the young. There is probably some controversy over especially the latter process, by argument that young should be born in a body, particularly to form the bond between Caretaker and younglings.  
-Recombination, in this instance, refers to a process that involves taking part of a Sook’s genetic code, copying what they want to pass on to their offspring, and leaving out the rest. The reason this technique is used is almost always because the person in question has some genes that would be harmful to pass on, such as hereditary disease. (The correctively benign genes of a donor who isn’t of the same Offspring Genetic Contribution Group are probably used to fill in the gaps left. Most frequently, people probably opt to leave in anything non-harmful and keep the rest.) 

-Family as well as friends generally act as immediate support for the Co-parenting group and offspring.  
-OSR isn’t as common in modern-day Khaa-sookinian society, due to the availability of Substitutional and Recombinative methods  
-Genetic sequencing can be done for people who have genes that would negatively impact offspring. Essentially, 

  
OSR isn’t as common as it was before the SuM was available, of course, due in part to the sheer complexity of the process.  
Do they have some kind of artificial reproduction thing?(yes.) would that /work/? or do they have subsidies for people who decide to reproduce, as incentive? (also yes. Sort of. Parents are definitely supported by the community/gov’t.)  
Kids probably come in batches-I think an average would be about 3 kids per parent, possibly regardless of # of parents? (Do more parents = more kids? Or is there just increased genetic diversity, or /what/?) (yes to the former, /probably/ yes to the latter? Increased genetic diversity of the /brood/, still not sure how genemelding works for, uh, individual kids.)

{Mmmmmh not sure about this: It's real rare for Sooks to actually all raise the kids like they would've in the old days -- some people will contribute genetic material, but make a point of distancing themselves from the process entirely so Parent Mode doesn't switch on. (Focus /does/ apply to parenthood, and in fact is a strong instinct. Once activated, it usually stays on until the batch of kids is at least a few years old, and for some it just doesn't switch off.)  
As such, family structures on Scintara are generally pretty fractured. Kids are probably at least semi-raised by the government a fair amount of the time, if not entirely.  
Given how intense the parenting instinct is, it takes some pretty specific or strong circumstances to activate it, but once it's on, it's on. It isn't entirely unusual for Sooks to adopt from other species, or even develop attachments to inanimate objects or, hell, /projects/, in a manner believed to be similar to parenthood. It is commonly speculated by sociologists that the Sook tendency to Focus is actually an adaptation/mutation/result of the parenting instinct turned in a different direction.}

as far as Old-Timey reproduction goes:  
It should be noted that sex has nothing whatsoever to do with Co-parenting. Unlike with humans (and….a lot of Earth species) it isn’t used for procreation whatsoever - more on what sex is actually /about/ for their species in * “Sooks and Sex”

RE: special focus+other rep stuff

  
Kids probably come in batches-I think an average would be about 3 kids per parent, possibly regardless of # of parents? (Do more parents = more kids? Or is there just increased genetic diversity, or /what/?)  
It's real rare for Sooks to actually all raise the kids like they would've in the old days -- some people will contribute genetic material, but make a point of distancing themselves from the process entirely so Parent Mode doesn't switch on. (Focus /does/ apply to parenthood, and in fact is a strong instinct. Once activated, it usually stays on until the batch of kids is at least a few years old, and for some it just doesn't switch off.)  
As such, family structures on the Sook homeworld are generally pretty fractured. Kids are probably at least semi-raised by the government a fair amount of the time, if not entirely.   
Given how intense the parenting instinct is, it takes some pretty specific or strong circumstances to activate it, but once it's on, it's on. It isn't entirely unusual for Sooks to adopt from other species, or even develop attachments to inanimate objects or, hell, /projects/, in a manner believed to be similar to parenthood. It is commonly speculated by some sociologists that the Sook tendency to Focus is actually an adaptation/mutation/result of the parenting instinct turned in a different direction. 

Babies:  
-Spent /at least/ a few months being carried around, in the Olden days. Nowadays it tends to be a shorter amount of time, maybe?  
-Babies get carried around when they're too small to run around on their own. They spend a lot of time sleeping in their formative stages, growing and conserving energy-but when they're awake they're AWAKE, which means /a lot/ of running around and developing their coordination n such.   
(Creating (cushioned) obstacle courses for babies is /absolutely a thing/. The playgrounds on Sook are a thing of wonder. Before they're big/old enough for that, though, they tend to 

-Keeping track of babies has a /lot/ to do with smell. Babies know their parent (and other people who are around a lot)'s smells. Parents presumably can smell themselves/their co-parents' genetics in the babies. {Sometimes mix-ups happen at the playground or places, maybe? (Accidental adoption is probably a thing that just. happens sometimes...)}

Brooding centers:   
-I changed my mind. No brooding centers; that sounds sterile and fucking AWFUL. They might have brooding centers /available/ just for the worst-case-scenario of lower parent numbers, but it's probably only happened kind of rarely. Ial was probably one of the kids from a high-child-ratio group. Old shit:  
-Instead of individual households having kids, nowadays there are probably mostly like. brooding centers. Or there might be, anyway, depending on how well that works. I think there would be 'teams' of co-parents (applying has as much to do with compatability with a team as child-rearing skills; if people are fighting or not clicking, it throws a real cog in the gears, especially with /that many/ kids.) with big groups of kids they're responsible for. Kids probably get mix-n-matched a lot in this system, just because it's hard to keep track of everybody.  
-There are special groups for kids with specific needs, I think. Those groups probably tend to be smaller and more carefully-controlled than the others. Maybe kids with neurodivergence, and extra nutritional requirements, stuff like that. Babies that were born too early or had difficult births, pregnancies, whatever. Maybe lit'lins that have birth defects or missing limbs or whatever.  
-Kids are probably like, color-coded with clothing or smth by group. Like on a fucking field trip.  
  
{-It works out fairly okay, population-wise, to have less people actually wanting to be parents-in Ye Olden Days, it wasn't too uncommon for kids to wander off and die, or get sick, or starve...infant mortality rate was much, much higher. So, there are less kids /born/ nowadays, but a significant percent more /survive/.}

{Parenting groups don't, /strictly/, have to be five-membered at a minimum; they can really be ANY mixture of sexes, in modern days. You don't even have to have Nutrition or Materialists-parenting groups without these members (or without enough of them per kid, or other extenuating circumstances) are taken into consideration during the adoption process, and supplements are provided easily enough. }  
-Some parenting groups have more fruit-producing members per child than they need; they tend to send the extra fruit off to Reproductive Centers, to be redistributed as needed.   
-Do fruit-producers make fruit in the years after their kids are born? Presumably, it would be more advantageous to not waste energy on making genebuds, pollen, flower, and fruit when you're /already/ raising kids and that stuff isn't needed. Maybe being around kids during budding season produces a hormone that causes you not to bud/produce. (Quite possibly this hormone is what's used for 'birth control' (bud control?) for people who don't want to have to deal with all that stuff but don't have kids.)  
-Three is really the minimum considered a parenting group-it's the smallest number of people you can have and apply to adopt.   
-A 3:1 kid-to-parent ratio is considered ideal for one-on-one attention potential while still providing enough practice/interaction with a group for the youngalings. 7:1 is considered fairly stressful for...well, everyone, and generally-speaking 6:1 is a little higher than is considered great, but will sometimes be how things shake out if there are lower numbers of parents available than would be preferred.  
-{The smaller the parenting group, the smaller the kid:parent ratio will generally be.} 

  
@Footnotes

^1 {Intersex Sooks do exist, and is kiiiiind of a secondary sort of sex? They're classified by the number of partial or whole reproductive systems they possess, as well as the types.   
Unlike in our society, being intersex is not a point of shame, perversion, or derision; though it is considered a reproductive disability, as various complications can arise depending on the individual's anatomy and physiology.}  
(For more information on intersex Sooks, see @ Intersex.) 

  
^2 How varies, of course. In the 'natural' biological process, genebuds are used. In modern artificial reproduction, other materials containing genetic material (EG, potentially cheek swabs or the like.)

#############################################  
###############################################  
*Gestation and the stages thereof  
-Emergence: Leaving the seed? Leaving the Carrier's broodpouch for the first time. Maaaaaybe being ready to not go back in a broodpouch at all? Think that's a more gradual process+there should b a diff term for it anyway.  
-Fuzz starts developing as a seedling before second Emergence.

-What are the signs of youth in Sooks? It might not be the same as humans (and other Earth fauna).   
-some of the signs in humans:   
-Big eyes?, big head, baby fat, baby teeth (milk teeth), undeveloped motor control, very limited mental faculty, utterly helpless at a v young age, blue eyes at birth, lack of hair - sometimes on head at birth but also armpits+groin-bodyhair thickens with puberty/age too (except when it's thinning), humans are neotenous+show other signs of domestication in adulthood. Are Sooks?  
-Sooks:   
-Maybe their leaves haven't come in yet, or are v tiny n new? (Possibly don't develop until sometime after Emergence)  
-What's the level of fuzz. //what is it.//  
-They obvs don't develop fuzz until like, the last trimester or wtvr  
  
################################################################  
*Relationship pieces/emotions as experienced by humans + Sooks

@Human emotion  
-  
@Sook emotion  
@Overlap  
@Relationship pieces (either)

===

@Human emotion  
-:!Emotions felt about people  
-Emotional theories by varying people, such as:  
-:!Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion  
-:!Book Two of Aristotle's "Rhetoric"  
-:!Darwin's ideas

\------

:!Emotions felt about people

-Interest/Boredom  
-Should it be /amusement/ instead of interest? They're deferent things, but 'boredom' is sort of the opposite of both...? And they're sort of tangled up together.  
-Kindness/cruelty  
-Trust/distrust  
-Fear/safety  
-Fear/trust? (Trust/Safety vs Fear?)  
-Except there are different kinds of 'trust' - trust for someone to keep their word, for example. Hm. So maybe 'fear/safety'?  
-Affection/Indifference/Disdain?

Guilt, embarrassment, shame, jealousy, envy, elation, empathy, pride.  
Annoyed, awkward, affectionate, abandoned, admired?, aggravated?, aggressive?, agreeable (cooperative?), ambivalent, amused, awed?, bashful (shy?), bereaved, bewildered?, bitter?, bold, caring, charitable (similar to benevolent?), confident?, contrite, content, considerate!, 

"The principal moral emotions can be divided into two large and two small joint families. The large families are the "other-condemning" family, in which the three brothers are contempt, anger, and disgust (and their many children, such as indignation and loathing), and the "self-conscious" family (shame, embarrassment, and guilt)…[T]he two smaller families the "other-suffering" family (compassion) and the "other-praising" family (gratitude and elevation).[2]"

  
\------

-:!Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion   
Plutchik - eight basic emotions, and others spawning from those:  
Fear  
Anger  
Sadness  
Joy  
Disgust  
Surprise  
Trust  
Anticipation, or expectation more neutrally.

Plutchik's wheel is more complicated, being something like a color wheel of combined emotions, and contains:  
Note: From the '{{{{' onward is 'these are annoying to work out' territory - so maybe bounce in to compare and pull some out, but don't assume all of them will be useful. 

Since I don't want to have to scroll through aaaaaallll of that, I'm going to stick the ones I gathered from here as intriguing at the top, here. 

&Interest/boredom  
&Anticipation/Surprise? (tho not necessarily emotional, hm.)

  
{{{{Inner ring:  
Terror  
Amazement  
Grief  
Loathing  
Rage  
Vigilance  
Ecstacy

R2Inner: the same 'basic' emotions he proposes.  
Fear  
Anger  
Sadness  
Joy  
Disgust  
Surprise  
Trust  
Anticipation, or expectation more neutrally.

R3/Outer:  
Apprehension  
Distraction  
Pensiveness  
Boredom  
Annoyance  
Interest  
Serenity  
Acceptance

Between:  
Apprehension and distraction: Awe  
Distraction and Pensiveness: Disapproval  
Pensiveness and Boredom: Remorse  
Boredom and Annoyance: Contempt  
Annoyance and interest: Aggressiveness  
Interest and Serenity: Optimism  
Serenity and Acceptance: Love  
Acceptance and Apprehension: Submission

Some of these do not seem right, in the between-rings. 

Some of these, I think, are redundant as being the same emotion but just very strong? 

Regardless; parsing down uneccessary/overlapping emotions is next.

  
Inner ring:  
Terror  
Amazement  
Grief  
Loathing  
Rage  
Vigilance  
Ecstacy

R2Inner: the same 'basic' emotions he proposes.  
Fear  
Anger  
Sadness  
Joy  
Disgust  
Surprise  
Trust  
Anticipation, or expectation more neutrally.

R3/Outer:  
(Apprehension - overlaps with 'fear'; minor amounts of fear will cover, I think.  
??Distraction - I'm not sure how this applies to sociality. love is a feeling. distraction is a habit, maybe..?  
?Pensiveness  
Boredom - probably file under 'no interest'.   
-Annoyance - separate from anger.  
-Interest - perhaps combine boredom with 'zero interest'.  
-Serenity - 'calmness'.  
?Acceptance

Between:  
Apprehension and distraction: Awe  
Distraction and Pensiveness: Disapproval  
Pensiveness and Boredom: Remorse  
Boredom and Annoyance: Contempt  
Annoyance and interest: Aggressiveness  
Interest and Serenity: Optimism  
Serenity and Acceptance: Love  
Acceptance and Apprehension: Submission  
}}}}}  
\-------

-:!Book Two of Aristotle's "Rhetoric"  
  
"This theory says that the emotions are:

Anger, opposite calmness (not feeling excited)  
Friendship, is where people have a bond of joy and will come together and have fun  
Fear, opposite courage (having courage in the face of fear)  
Shame, opposite confidence (shame: how one feels about one's past bad actions or thoughts; shamelessness: one does not feel shame, but others think one should)  
Kindness (benevolence), opposite cruelty (kindness: when people are good to other people)  
Pity (when people feel sorry for other people)  
Indignation (feeling angry because something is not fair, such as undeserved bad fortune)  
Envy, jealousy (pain when people have something that one wishes for oneself)  
Love, a strong emotion of attachment one feels for someone else. Ranges to family, pets, friends, significant others or fictional characters "  
  
  
I actually rather like Kindness and Cruelty - and having them on a spectrum is genius.  
&Kindness/Cruelty  
  
  
  
\-------   
  
-:!Darwin's ideas

===  
@Sook emotion

  
Is the emotional matrix for Sooks the same as it is for humans? The /intensity/ of the emotions?  
Maybe their emotions aren't as-quickflash, as human emotions are. Maybe they come on slower and linger, shallow? hmmmn.

Big emotions for humans:  
-curiosity  
-hate, love, sadness, fear.   
  
it would be funny if Sooks didn't have a concept of hate because they just. didn't put emotional energy into things they don't like. (Maybe that's a cultural norm, fuck. Like, they /do/ dislike/hate things, sometimes, but it's seen as immature or smth to go /on/ about it the way we do, so they tend to try and work past it. Not necessarily all negative emotions-not looking for a species of stepford smilers.)   
Possibly this is a way Ial enjoys Earth's divergence from their culture.   
Hey what if shame isn't a thing for them. Because it's not really useful. Shame just. Isn't a thing. /Regret/ might be, in effect, but maybe they don't FEEL it, the way we do-that sharp, inward-curved self-reproach.  
They feel /bad/ if they hurt someone, but that's what it is-they feel bad. Empathy-focus on the other person?  
-unlike most plants, Sooks are very community-oriented. Like insects.   
they tend to be altruistic, but....not in a way humans are...?

-what if as a people, they're almost...pragmatic? they don't get sentimental attachment to objects the way humans do. a place is just a place-and when they say that, they mean it; if they have to move, and the place they move isn't as /nice/, they won't necessarily be /happy/ about it, but it won't be a big deal for them the way it would for a human.  
The inconveniences, of course, might be. But emotionally, they've already moved on from that last place-this is where they live now.  
-Do they form bonds with other people quickly? Slowly?   
I think Sooks click with each other pretty quickly-they fall into a rhythm with perfect strangers relatively easily.

  
===  
@Overlap

===

@Relationship pieces (either)

  
#relationships #emotions #dynamics #worldbuilding I guess? #pins #relationship pins #relationship charting #relationship plotting #dynamic charting #dynamic plotting

  
Parts of a relationship

"Transparency - openness?  
Communication iiiii  
Boundaries (....do I need a pin for that..?)  
Consent  
&Trust ii  
Honesty ii  
Independence (/individuality) ii  
Equality ii  
Support iiii  
Responsibility  
Healthy conflict  
-Safety - maybe?  
Fun" ii  
&Loyalty!!!  
Compassion  
&-Respect ii  
Selflessness  
Empathy  
Reciprocation  
&affection  
&-kindness - benevolence? (/cruelty)  
commitment - pna.  
compromise - pna.  
-understanding - with the opposite being complete /mis/understanding?

control - eg, Ship pulling strings?   
&-hostility - antagonism..?  
&Intimidation  
Physical violence

https://designepiclife.com/list-of-emotions/

https://quizlet.com/526817744/social-emotional-flash-cards/

got to 'contrite'   
  
===   
  
############################################################

*Rough storyline slash plot

Synopsis:   
Arc 1: Alien comes to Earth to conquer it for their species. Lone human discovers them, and they become nemesis as the human tries to keep the alien from taking over/destroying the world.

Alien becomes slowly disillusioned with what they've been taught-that their species is vastly superior to basically all other species and that conquering other worlds is The Right Thing To Do. Human presumably /also/ has personal growth. I assume they're kind of an asshole. Probably around this time that the Oh Fuck They're Hot subplot really kicks up. Not that it wasn't in effect /before/, but now something can actually be done about it without so much worrying about being /eviscerated/.

(We later learn that the alien isn't even /supposed/ to be trying to take over the Earth-they're supposed to be doing research on /how/ to, what the planet's weaknesses and strengths are. ...they may have jumped the gun somewhat. They are. /Very/ eager to conquer the planet, for the good of the Empire.)

Presumably something something unbrainwashing the alien civ and fixing the human one. 

Why do the Sooks conquer other worlds? Why do they think they're superior? Is there an outside force influencing this? Corrupt politicians? What's the impetus?

Parallels: People Are People (And People Fuck Up) - human society and Tsook society both have some Real Shit Problems that they basically made themselves.

Vibe: Dark, zany, comedic, sometimes serious, (mood whiplash), cartoon logic (light to medium)

####################################################

*Sooks and Focus  
Re: Special focus  
The majority of Kaa'sookinians who are too involved in their careers, hobbies, etc (they tend to be a fairly single-minded race, with an intense focus on whatever they have decided their Purpose to be, frequently to the exclusion of nearly any other goal, though they do, at least, remember to eat and such; it's less an intense hyperfocus than a sustained state of concentration that can last on one subject for years.   
Losing the ability to maintain this concentration is viewed as a horrible, terrible thing to happen to a person, much the way humans might view a deep depression; similarly, such a state is considered to be a very fragile time in the individual's life, and great efforts are generally made to have a secondary focus in place or available for immediate perusal when the primary fluctuates or ceases, to prevent this from happening.) (Similar to human ADHD + autism's Special Interest in some ways, but not all - esp the way its' considered culturally.)  
The majority of Kaa'sookinians are Focused on something that wouldn't lend well to child-rearing, though there are some few who either Focus on something that /does/ (which does not always mean they will choose to reproduce, if only for lack of similarly available partners) or simply make room within their schedules for such a thing. Reproductive sabbaticals and reduced work-loads are granted with no difficulty in all but the most time-sensitive of fields, (in which case there tends to be need of personnel reshuffling so that there isn't a gap, which can take a while; the request is, nonetheless, /always/ approved. Reproduction is considered an integral right to all Sooks)   
(More possibly under 'cultura quirks' question

===  
#########################################################  
*Is the invader reviled? Decorated?

They're mostly seen as a fucking /tragedy/ once their people discover what happened.  
Probably neither? They're just a scientist, doin their job. ....they're a //good// scientist, probably really damn brilliant, but they also don't have the good sense of a banana sometimes.   
===  
#################################################  
*How emblematic of their people are they?

I half-think they're pretty much an everyman, and they're all that manic. it would be funny. it would also mean mass chaos.

===  
################################################

*What if the alien civ wasn't even planning on taking over Earth?  
There could have been a hilarious miscommunication. Or our alien just decided they wanted to or it would benefit the empire. (Edit: /Kind of/ what happened? The Sooks weren't planning to 'conquer' Earth-they probably didn't even have interest in it yet, but conquering isn't really a thing they do, I think.)

###################################  
#################################

  
*What are Khaa-sookian relationships like? Do they have friends? Family? Romance?  
The concept of romance and reproduction aren't necessarily entwined like they are for humans; a parenting group might be entirely aromantic to each other, or all romantic towards each other-or any mix therein.   
Friendship, likewise, is a complicated subject; deliniations between romantic, sexual, and friendly categories tend to be blurred in general in Sook relationships, (with the exception of familial relationships, of course, which do have their own complications.) and it's not uncommon for a particularly close pair to vacillate between roles as the situation calls for it.   
This kind of relationship is often referred to as (again, translated; Sooks are more or less deaf, and do not have a verbal language of their own, though they do have a writing system) Qu'otha, or, loosely translated; 'other of my heart'. (It should also be noted that Sooks may or may not have 'hearts'; rather, this is a translation taking into account human cultural mores, wherein 'heart' denotes in this case great personal importance to one's self.)  
I don't think Sooks have a concept of romance /quite/ the way humans do-or, rather, their romantic relationships don't //work// the same way.   
-Romantic relationships are not given priority over platonic ones.   
-What if Sooks just....don't have a romance with someone who doesn't fit with the rest of their stuff? like. idk about long-distance or stuff like that, or /forgivingness/. just. what if slotting into someone's schedule n shit neatly is like, considered the   
What if. 'falling into step'-with someone's /life/-is considered kind of the ideal of romance? You click into place, with their housemates and their family and who does the chores. That's like, a /big/ part of the whole thing. (It could very easily be a hangup....esp in relation to a race who's used to falling into step with each other easily, /not/ doing so immediately could be taken as not being romantically compatible, even though realistically that's just. Stupid.)  
But-being /compatible/, I guess, is a big important thing.   
What IS romance for Khaa'sookians? It's not inherently connected to sexual attraction, of course-in fact, they might be entirely separate! (Which isn't to say that they don't sometimes overlap, but.)   
-They could be a race of aromantic people, and their 'romantic' relationships are queerplatonic. hmmmm.

-what if. whatifwhatifwhatif. romantic and sexual stuff, right, those relationships are considered /separate/. those are separate things you do. from reproduction. like. it's considered weird and kind of crazy to have babies with the person you're /romantically and sexually attracted to/ because what if the attraction dies out? What if the romance stops? /You still have kids to raise./  
-evolutionary benefit of having romance/sex outside of reproduction could be that you're expanding your social circle-if you have all that in the group you live with+are raising kids with, what's your incentive to socialize /outside/ of them? Works to keep community bonded together instead of just isolated little cells. Also: helps for socializing /kids/, because it gets everybody out of their little bubble; kids have a LOT of potential playmates between their own siblings and their parents date/fuckmates' kids (these groups of children overlapping is very casual; it's not expected that just because you're with someone romantically you're going to /stay/ that way. Kids already have like five solid parents, it's not like they have a lack of stability the way human kids hoping every guy their parent brings home will be The One to be their dad do. It's more tangential to them.)  
What is the evolutionary advantage of romance? For humans, it's pair bonding, and largely reproductive. Makes it more likely to make babies, and for those babies to be raised by parents who'll stay together.  
It's considered a /real/ bad idea to fuck/romance someone you live with/have kids with-kind of that whole 'don't shit where you eat' thing. It's considered an irresponsible, /shitty/ thing to do-you're willfully putting the emotional stability of /your entire familial unit/ at risk! What do you think is going to happen if it breaks bad?   
-If there are Sook soap operas, this is /absolutely/ a frequent plot point. The severity is probably on par with cheating in human stories, except I guess the tone is more like fucking over your kids and parental partners.

-Coparents can be friends, queerplatonic partners, and, in some cases, just people who work together well. You don't technically /have/ to /like/ each other to raise kids together, but it certainly helps.   
(Also please for the love of the gods picture a cuddle pile with all the parents and all the babies and //oh my gods//)  
also lil baby spiders on their backs, kicking up their legs in the air. /so. cute./

do Sooks have a 'beloved enemy/rival' relationship?  
\what relationships do they have, or place large emphasis on, that humans /don't?/  
-queerplatonic relationships are a /huge/ thing for Sooks. romance isn't an 'above all else' thing like it is with humans.   
-it's actually very common, especially with the way Sooks are raised, for sibling(s) to be the most important/closest person in their life. These relationships frequently take precedence over any romantic or other entanglements they may end up in; there is a specific word in the Khaa'sookian language for 'favorite sibling/family member' (if not a sibling, sometimes a cousin. The word for 'closest family member' of a /different/ generation or power dynamic is different, and has variations depending on the FEELING of relationship-mentor, parental, friend, etc.)

-Romance is a complicated subject. How similar is Sook romance to human?  
-Zim thought human romance was pain-based, which...isn't /entirely/ wrong. (I guess...I would have to qualify what human romance IS based on.)

Human romance is/can be based on:  
-withstanding pain/terrible things+going thorugh hardship to 'prove' your love is a very, very common romantic trope. Though that might just be human's love for drama rather than...something intrinsic.  
-mutual affection  
-sexual attraction is a large, interconnected component in MANY romantic human relationships. Though not /necessarily/ integral, many humans believe or find sexual attraction to be required within a romantic relationship. 

  
-Familial and platonic relationships might be kind of /blurred/, in some instances.  
-parent/child should be pretty clear, maybe. except....then you have the whole 'it takes a village' thing, where sometimes it's /not/ just six people. Sometimes it's an entire community swapping off kids and tons of aunts and uncles and grandparents. (Which...honestly, I think is more common than having it just be an isolated family. Sooks are like, ultra-social, after all.)  
-So, basically, your entire hometown or so is pretty much under the category of 'family', probably. Except then it would be a bitch to actually /find/, let alone /keep/, mates, so...Let's say it's more like a few blocks radius, or smth. They're a clan.  
-what if instead of a human city layout every clan is a village/every village is a clan. they might not be entirely self-sufficient but the living quarters and presumably leisure areas and such are there.  
-how does that affect people /moving,/ though? esp with communities being so tight-knit, presumably.  
-Where you grow up is your clan/tribe/family. you don't fuck or romance those people. people from anywhere else (or who /move in/ from elsewhere, circumstantially) are fair game, as long as they're not genetically similar to you.   
  
  
Here are some of the weird-gross things that I'm...probably not including because it's sort of. squicky? if not to me, then /certainly/ to most humans, I should think. not real keen on trifling around with incest.  
-family/clan don't pollinate each other, regardless of whether the genetics being used would be theirs, combined. (Reason: Human sensibilities.)  
-You don't have sex with clan/family, even though it has...nothing to do with reproduction. (Cuddle-piles are a big thing, though.)   
-Same re: romance and clan, purely for human sensibility reasons. Unless you count the whole moiraillegiance/soulmate thing that some have going on, which /is/ a deep connection but isn't, by human standards, romantic-even if it is a partnership.   
-siblings-genetic or otherwise-don't reproduce or engage in non-platonic stuff, even though compared to humans they are /very/ unrelated, so the whole 'inbreeding' thing isn't....much of a thing. Especially when you have five parents. But it helps preserve the genetic diversity, because otherwise there would be little reason to go looking for mates elsewhere, I guess. 

################################################  
#############################################

*A comparison of societal mores  
-usefulness to overall society - used /against/ people in capitalism (human). A way to tear them down. A lot more neutral in Sook society, though people do have hang-ups about it sometimes, presumably. It's more-a focus on the positive? Like, it's an /honor/ to contribute, rather than it's shameful /not/ to.  
-Ial might have an inferiority thing of some sort going on? desperately wants /somebody's/ attention? (The thing is-in groups, if you're in a group, you get a /lot/ of attention. But when you're /not/ in one....and maybe they aren't purposefully excluded, maybe they just. Don't quite /fit/. Maybe that-that synchronization that happens so easily and /integrally/ with Sooks just, doesn't happen with them. Not as well. They don't-they don't pick up signals, or they're too interested in doing their own thing, and get-distracted. They're not great at group flow, even if they're very willing and earnest to help.)  
-capitalism, greed, veneer of selflessness over truth of selfishness (human)

-babies climb on their parents' backs like with spiders, it's ADORABLE.

##########################################  
##########################################

*Parallels  
Between Ial and Yosun:  
-being out of sync with their own species?  
-neither of them is /disliked/-at least by their family-but they can't....get into lockstep with them. They're just, always a little out of rhythm, a little too awkward.*1  
-(probably both of them are more liked by people than they think-)  
-They're both kind of neurotic, in different ways.  
-Ial is kind of Everything Must Be Just So. Apollo isn't, so much, though everything /does/ have its place, and they prefer it to /stay there/, thank you, so they can /find/ it.   
-Perfectionism? Neatness?  
-Ial is....probably not a perfectionist. Or, if they are, it's aimed at things that aren't exactly...helpful, to their mission. IDK about Yosun.  
-Yosun is, surprisingly, pretty neat. (Maybe /very/ neat.) This is more out of habit and convenience than any.../distaste/ for messiness, though. This is at kind of amusing contrast with Ial-their environment is kept neat-they're certainly not a slob-but they have a tendency to get distracted in the middle of something and move onto something else, leaving the first thing behind.... (it's lucky they have a computer AND Ka'reen looking out for them; otherwise their base would be a mess.)   
-Apollo is /paranoid/, once Ial comes around. (They might have been /beforehand/, but I think it's better if it's Ial-onset.)   
-Yosun isn't distractible like Ial is. Another thing that gives them an edge in interactions/fights.  
-they're both smart and fast. For Apollo, this is because they train for it; for Ial, they're just from an alien race that's stronger and faster compared to /humans/. Compared to other Sooks, they're a /scientist/. (Granted-they run around fighting with Apollo sometimes, but it's not exactly like they have a bunch of training or whatever. Probably. Maybe.) (Fuck, now I want to have them have military training, but then they would be /way/ too badass.  
/Unless./  
Unless they're really just that much of a dumbass.  
Which is /absolutely possible./

*1 Possible reasons Ial isn't in lockstep:   
-Brain differences or underdevelopment in specific regions.   
-maybe their pheromone receptors (and/or expressors) don't...work? like they should?   
-maybe they can SMELL them, but it's like autism-they have a hard time /reading/ them. The big stuff, sure, they get; but nuance is lost a lot of the time, or takes longer for them to suss out-and by that point it's too late, the other person(s) have moved on to the next thing. 

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*How do Ial and Apollo meet? Why does Apollo decide it's their mission to stop Ial? How do they /know/ they're an alien here to conquer Earth?  
@How do Ial and Apollo meet?  
@Misc  
  
@How do Ial and Apollo meet?

  
Summary:   
randompersyn:  
basically, they meet (or at least run into) I'el, when I'el is really super major bad at pretending to be a human (which...they don't improve much, to be fair)  
[11:50 PM] randompersyn:  
and I'el does smth that pisses them off, like wrecks their favorite coffee shop or smth  
[11:51 PM] randompersyn:  
but what I think happens is that they're between nemesis, so they're sort of on the prowl a little bit  
[11:52 PM] randompersyn:  
so they're annoyed and without a nemesis and this person is OBVIOUSLY not human and what the fuck, so they start tailing them  
[11:52 PM] randompersyn:  
(very obtrusively, mind.)  
[11:53 PM] randompersyn:  
they basically bother I'el until I'el's fam is like, 'oh, a playmate/chewtoy for our organic family member.'

  
Option a: 

I'el is on what's probably their first visit to a human settlement, completely fucking up some Human Custom, which is how they catch Yosun's eye.   
-Iris accompanies them, but there's only so much you can do. Not that they're trying too hard-it's pretty obvious the average human just Does Not Care. (This is primarily because they think I'el is crazy and are ignoring them because it's Not Their Problem, but Iris might not have the perspective on human behavior to understand that yet.)  
-Yosun is like '/what the fuck./' when they see how bad I'el is at Acting Human.   
(Did they know Ial was an alien on first sight?   
They probably suspected something was fucking /off/, but I don't know that their first thought was 'alien'. Once they were around them for a bit, though, it became very clear really quickly something wasn't right.)  
-They might have met Ka'reen first?  
-(aijfojiw what if they're clumsily trailing them for the rest of the day then but Iris is actually /paying attention/, so he knows Yosun is there and so the two of them are just wandering around town, which was probably the point of the trip anyway. (May or may not let I'el in on the fact that they're being tailed. ....nah, that's not as fun.)  
-I'el is just obliviously taking in the local culture while this James Bond wannabe knocks over sunglasses stands behind them and gets into arguments with the vendors. Flawless.  
-I'el also spills a coffee or smth on them 'accidentally on purpose' (from Apollo's point of view, they outright throw it at them, while everyone around thinks ze tripped and it was an accident. it's really funny. Apollo is incensed.)   
-(I kind of think Ial didn't exactly /plan/ it-maybe Apollo startled them and their arm jerked on reflex, and the coffee ended up half spilled on the human. ...oops?)  


Option b: I'el destroys Yosun's favorite coffee shop, possibly through careless use of machinery, while the rest of the humans around just go, 'eh,' and completely ignore it. You know, as you do. Just climb out of the rubble and find a different shop.  
Obviously, this requires vengeance.  
(Maybe this is a thing that happens later? or possibly at the /end/ of their outing, eheheh.)

Basically: I'el comes across Yosun's radar because of something petty or ridiculous, (eg: ze knocked over their coffee). Now it's a vendetta.   
....To Yosun. I'el doesn't realize they exist.

-But how were they even in the same place? How long has Ial been on Earth?  
-I ASSUME Ial lives in the woods for the first while, because Distance From Native Species. ....what if instead of taking place in a city, the series is fucking //rural//. holy shit. (Ial goes to the city to fuck around with stuff, but their main base is relatively out in the sticks. possibly they later on get/make a secondary base in the city, tho.)  


  
Okay but what is Ial fucking up? -that's probably gonna depend on what they're /in town for/. 

  
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original:

  
*Language - symbols by number.  
3 - Like something really unexpected happening. The visual plays on having your attention torn between two things and managing it badly.   
6 - Kind of like a faux-casual approachable salute? sort of the vibe you get from those 'the military is so cool and admirable' propaganda, except it's more the /race/, I guess? sort of a prideful, cool wave- think kissing babies and waving minus the kissing babies.

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*Neoteny - in humans, + causes of

Symptoms:  
Humans' flat, broad faces are a sign of neoteny; compare with chimpanzees, who have biting muzzles when mature, but are flat-faced like humans as juveniles.

-humans domesticated by trees?

Human domestication - look at skulls of hunter gatherers, + human ancestors.

  
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*'Why do Sooks have blue teeth'-and other coloration questions.  
Because I said so, that's why  
Hey what color are the alien's teeth? What are they made of?  
-Could lean into the plant thing  
-they could just be absolutely alien n like. /blue/ or something, a different compound that isn't on Earth or smth??? metabolized metal?? idk  
In-universe, there's probably a mineral or metal common to their diet that stains their teeth blue, or maybe their teeth contain it, the way ours contain calcium. I really don't want to get into a rabbit-hole of research on this, it's HIGHLY unecessary-they're aliens, they have blue teeth, it's cool. You don't have to justify EVERYTHING, man. Maybe it'll come later. Maybe it won't. But it's inconsequential.  
As for the rest-it's not uncommon for EARTH animals to lack color vision (or at least, not see as many colors as humans do. This also goes the /other/ way, with critters like shrimp seeing MORE.), so contrast, brightness, and pattern might well be more important to camoflauge, mimicry and other survival mechanisms. Tigers can be bright fucking orange because the deer or whatever-the-fuck they hunt doesn't see orange, it just looks like brown or whatever to them. I imagine Sook coloration works on a similar principle.   
Also they look like that because it's pretty and I say so.   
They have the spider-eye markings because not ALL animals on their planet are blind, even if it isn't a main sense for most, and developing specific markings is pretty low-effort but provides potentially high reward, as far as energy costs go. 

  
Half-done, scattered reseach below:

Blue metals:  
-Zinc is described as silver with a faint blueish cast.  
-Slightly brittle, and not blue enough.  
Same goes for cobalt metal, apparently.  
check out anodized titanium, niobium, and tantalum.   
indium-gold (blue gold), but it's brittle.  
seems like potentially aluminum would do?

cobalt chloride - not a good material, very high concern of carcinogen, doesn't seem to be a /solid/ solid, either.

possible rocks/minerals?  
cordierite - found in rocks like hornfels and gneiss. cordierite 'forms grains that display a shifting blue-to-gray color as you turn it'-ie, dichromism. Not smth I was planning for their teeth, but an interesting idea! 7 to 7.5 hardness.

Alkaline low-silica igneous rocks may have large masses of sodalite, a feldspathoid mineral that usually has a rich blue color, also ranging from clear to violet. It may be accompanied by the related blue feldspathoids hauyne, nosean, and lazurite. It is primarily used as a gemstone or for architectural decoration.

Glassy luster; hardness of 5.5 to 6.

  
There are a handful of other blue/bluish minerals that occur in various uncommon settings: anatase (pegmatites and hydrothermal), benitoite (one occurrence worldwide), bornite (bright blue tarnish on a metallic mineral), celestine (in limestones), lazulite (hydrothermal), and the tanzanite variety of zoisite (in jewelry).

kyanite  
lapis lazuli  
copper-magnesium schoenite

  
According to answers: Can make metal that looks blue with anodization - using electric current to oxidize a thing layer of the metal to create a thin layer of the metal's oxide. This thin layer reflects light both from the air/oxide interface and from the oxide/metal interface, leading to interference colors. With the right thickness, you can get blue. This is easily done with titanium, niobium, and tantalum, among a few other metals. This is certainly the cheapest method (outside of dyeing/painting metal). However, the coloration is only on the surface; scratching the metal will show the silver color beneath.

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*Current events and circumstance- background Earth info.  
-@Misc

@Misc

Worldbuilding idea:   
Paris, but full of Eiffel towers as a tourist-trap kind of thing, except now everyone's sick of the Eiffel tower and it backfired so people /avoid/ them. (Is this a result of something I'el did? or just Earth Shenanigans?)


End file.
